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THE  COLOSSUS 


THE    COLOSSUS 


a  StotB  of  tlosDaB 


By    MORLEY    ROBERTS 


NEW   YORK   AND   LONDON 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS   PUBLISHERS 

1899 


Copyright,  1899,  by  Harpbr  &  Brothers. 


Alt  rights  rtstrvtii. 


THE  COLOSSUS 


CHAPTER  I 


The  Great  Fetich,  the  God  on  awful  wheels, 
the  Keeper  of  the  African  Sibylline  Books,  lay 
back  in  a  big  cane  chair  and  looked  out  across 
the  Nile. 

But  he  beheld  nothing  that  was  visible  from 
the  hotel  terrace ;  he  stared  across  roses  and  the 
gray-blue  river  and  the  desert  to  greater  deserts, 
and  sweeping  further  still  beyond  the  flat  up- 
lands of  Uganda  and  Nyassaland,  his  mind  came 
through  the  country  of  the  Barotse,  and  hung 
poised  above  the  valley  of  the  Zambesi.  He  be- 
held Mosi-oa-Tunge,  and  heard  its  roar ;  the  five 
fingers  of  spray,  rising  heavenward  as  the  river 
plunged  into  its  carved  abyss,  were  his  Pillars  of 
Smoke. 

He  considered  the  making  of  ways.  The 
Pathfinder  is  the  Pioneer  of  Empire.  He  pon- 
dered over  railways,  and  saw  the  metals  gleam  till 
they  ran  north  and  south  out  of  sight,  and  were 
but  one  iron  finger  of  direction.     And  now  they 


The  Colossus 

ended  near  where  Gordon  fell,  and  where  he  was 
avenged.  What  a  trackless  gap  yawned  between 
them  and  the  watershed  where  locomotives 
hooted  once  more!  When  his  thoughts  touched 
Buluwayo  he  felt  as  one  who  has  struggled 
through  an  uncharted  wilderness  when  he  hears 
the  sound  of  an  axe,  the  scream  of  a  saw,  or  the 
long-drawn  wail  of  a  steamer  on  navigable 
waters. 

"Hoot,  hoot,  toot!  I  am  the  Civiliser!  I  join 
loose  ends !"     So  yelled  a  steamer  on  the  lakes. 

Eustace  Loder's  opened  eyes  closed  again ;  he 
saw  the  puppets  dance  as  the  strings  were  pulled ; 
he  heard  the  drum  beaten.  When  would  the 
drum  and  fife  concert  of  Intrigue  and  Interest 
cease  and  let  the  show  of  work  begin  ? 

There  were  hours  when  neither  man  nor 
woman  dared  speak  to  Loder.  He  sat  solitary, 
and  though  he  sometimes  frowned  and  some- 
times smiled,  for  the  most  part  he  was  as  in- 
scrutable as  any  Sphinx;  he  appeared  as  one 
whose  soul  is  not  with  his  body.  At  such  hours 
he  met  a  first  interruption  with  an  inward  glacial 
eye;  but  persistence  brought  him  back  to  visible 
earth  with  an  ugly  frown.  No  one  but  a  fool  of 
perseverance,  or  a  wise  man  with  urgency  at  his 
back,  persisted  further. 


The  Colossus 

But  his  watch-dogs  usually  warned  off  in- 
truders. On  their  vigilance  depended  precarious 
peace,  their  very  peace  of  mind,  for  his  rebu]  e 
was  humiliation.  They  adored  him;  their  pas- 
sion for  him  was  no  common  affection — it  was 
patriotism.     He  included  England. 

It  was  now  the  second  hour  of  the  Chief's 
silent  meditation,  and  at  either  end  of  the  heavy 
shaded  veranda  sat  his  secretarial  dogs.  Every 
few  minutes  some  one  tried  to  pass  them. 

"No,  you  can't  see  him — at  least,  not  to  speak 
to,"  said  Emory  Hinton.  "If  you  were  to  open 
your  mouth  to  him  he  would  make  it  so  hot  for 
me  that  I  should  think  I  was  in — in  Southern 
California." 

The  American  he  spoke  to  chewed  a  quill  tooth- 
pick with  peculiar  gusto. 

"Well,  sir,  I'm  not  the  man  to  cut  into  a  game 
where  I'm  not  wanted,"  he  replied,  after  a  mo- 
ment's consideration,  "but  I  reckon  if  I  could 
shake  hands  with  Loder  before  leavin'  Cairo,  I'd 
make  my  stay  in  the  town  thirty-six  hours  in- 
stead of  twenty-four." 

"Yes?"  said  Hinton. 

"That's  so,"  said  the  American,  with  another 
bite  at  the  chewed  quill.  "Do  you  reckon  on  his 
bein'  engaged  in  thinking  things  out  till  to-mor- 
row morning?" 

3 


The  Colossus 

The  Secretary  shrugged  his  shoulders  as  though 
he  were  not  prepared  to  state  on  oath  that  Mr. 
Loder  might  not  go  on  considering  for  a  week. 

"Well,  he's  just  a  devil  of  a  thinker,"  said  the 
stranger  rather  sadly.  "However,  I've  seen  him, 
and  that's  somethin'.  What  do  you  reckon  he's 
studying  on,  young  man  ?" 

The  "young  man's"  eyes  gleamed  for  a  mo- 
ment. 

"I  shouldn't  like  to  say,"  he  remarked  good- 
humoredly. 

"I  honor  you  for  it,"  said  the  American,  nod- 
ding; "but  I'd  lay  my  last  red  it's  railroads. 
'AH  aboard  for  the  Cape'  is  Loder's  motto,  or 
I'm  a  Dutchman.  Good-day,  young  man.  Do 
you  feel  like  a  liquor?" 

Emory  denied  genially  that  he  felt  like  one, 
and  the  stranger  took  his  leave.  And  as  he  did, 
Matthews  at  the  other  end  of  the  veranda  com- 
bated one  of  their  own  party. 

"My  dear  Miss  Broughton,  you  really,  really 
ought  to  know  better.     Now,  just  look  at  him  !" 

"Oh,  may  I  do  that?"  asked  Gertrude  Brough- 
ton satirically.  "Are  you  sure  he  won't  go  off 
if  I  do?" 

"If  you  were  to  sit  here  for  hours  he  would 
never  know  you  were  here,"  said  Wilberforce 
Matthews  earnestly. 

4 


The  Colossus 

"What  I  Uke  is  tact,"  said  Gertrude  vaguely. 

"You  must  have  tact  with  him,"  nodded 
Matthews. 

"Good  dog!"  cried  the  woman;  and,  turning 
her  back  upon  him,  she  walked  down  the  terrace 
till  she  came  out  into  the  hot  sunlight.  As  she 
leant  upon  the  balustrade  of  the  river  steps  she 
pulled  a  rose  to  pieces  with  nervous  fingers,  and 
dropped  its  petals  in  the  waters. 

"Matthews  is  an  intolerable  thick-skinned 
fool,"   she   murmured   viciously.     "If   I    hadn't 

made  up  my  mind,  I'd "     And  she  shook  her 

head  impatiently.  "I  hate  a  river,"  she  thought ; 
"it's  always,  always  going  one  way." 

She  beat  the  devil's  tattoo  on  marble  with  her 
foot,  and,  throwing  the  gold  heart  of  the  rose  into 
the  stream,  retreated  to  the  shade.  A  chair  in  a 
comfortable  spot  enticed  her;  but  she  could  not 
see  Loder  from  it  till  she  had  dragged  it  into  the 
sun.  Then  she  sat  down,  and  for  an  hour  criti- 
cised with  the  bitterest  scorn  all  those  who  came 
seeking  a  word  with  the  man  on  whom  she  had 
set  her  heart.  She  smiled  to  see  them  repulsed 
by  the  tactless  Matthews  or  by  Emory  Hinton, 
and  called  them  "poor  fools !"  It  appeared  to 
her  that  they  were  attracted  by  the  unessential, 
by  the  tinsel  glitter  of  the  robe  which  this  emi- 
nent actor-statesman  knew  so  well  how  to  wear. 


The  Colossus 

But  for  herself  was  the  real  man  underlying  the 
complex  phenomena  of  this  personality. 

And  yet  sometimes,  and  usually  when  she  woke 
in  early  dawn,  Gertrude  Broughton  wondered 
whether  Loder  was  a  man  at  all.  Not  infre- 
quently he  appeared  in  her  dreams  as  the  con- 
centrated essence  of  England:  he  was  a  repre- 
sentative, and  yet  not  an  individual ;  his  passions, 
thoughts,  plans,  and  desires  had  the  force  and  the 
vagueness  characteristic  of  all  Britons,  not  of 
one.  His  being  a  man  was  a  necessary  accident. 
He  could  not  be  touched  by  human  methods ;  as 
well  might  a  woman  make  love  to  a  mass-meet- 
ing, or  woo  a  Parliament  with  subtle  enticements. 
A  man  may  not  marry  his  grandmother,  but  a 
woman  cannot,  with  any  personal  satisfaction, 
espouse  the  State.  If  historic  legend  was  to  be 
credited,  Queen  EHzabeth  tried  it,  and  failed, 
more  than  once. 

During  this  hour's  contemplation  of  Buddha  in 
a  cane  throne,  Gertrude  quite  forgot  her  com- 
plexion until  the  westering  sun  slanted  and  bit 
like  a  blister  into  the  very  flesh.  She  rose  im- 
patiently, and  dragged  a  reluctant  and  screaming 
chair  along  the  marble,  watching  Loder  as  she 
did  so,  in  the  hope  that  the  noise  would  bring  a 
human  scowl  into  that  broad,  impassive  mask. 
But  though  Wilberforce  Matthews  turned  un- 
6 


The  Colossus 

easily,  Loder  never  moved :  his  big  chin  was  sunk 
in  his  breast;  his  hands  grasped  the  arms  of  his 
chair ;  he  looked  neither  to  the  right  nor  the  left. 
Gertrude  wanted  to  scream  at  this  Caryatid  of 
Empire,  as  young  Hinton  once  named  him  to  his 
face ;  she  desired  to  shake  him. 

"I  could  beat  him,"  she  said  viciously,  "but  it 
would  be  like  beating  the  Sphinx." 

With  a  sudden  impatient  gesture  she  turned 
away  and  marched  along  the  veranda.  At  this 
moment  she  hated  Loder  as  much  as  she  loved 
him;  he  seemed  as  cruel  as  his  enemies  said. 
What  did  he  love,  what  could  he  love,  but  Power  ? 
She  could  hardly  excuse  that,  for  she  loved 
Power  herself.  To  control  the  destinies  of  the 
Controller  was  her  chief  desire.  Decorated  with 
the  rosette  of  his  name,  she  conceived  she  might 
use  him  without  being  merged  by  him  in  himself, 
for  she  knew  how  childlike  he  was  in  all  little 
things. 

When  she  had  walked  through  a  marble  colon- 
nade into  a  court  cooled  by  a  fountain,  she  threw 
herself  sullenly  into  a  chair,  and  looked  very 
much  like  a  mutinous  child  who  has  been  sent  out 
of  the  room  by  its  father.  A  moment  later  she 
caught  the  murmur  of  approaching  voices.  Two 
men  entered  the  court  and  sat  down.  They  were 
screened  from  her  sight  by  palms  and  azaleas. 
7 


The  Colossus 

Like  the  rest  of  Cairo,  they  appeared  to  be  talk- 
ing of  Loder. 

"Well,  I  think  him  neither  more  nor  less  than 
an  entirely  unscrupulous  ruffian,"  said  one  voice. 

"You  don't  understand  him." 

"Do  you?" 

The  speaker  was  impatient. 

"No,  but  I  can  try  to ;  and  you  don't  try." 

"I  know  his  record." 

"But  you  judge  it  by  your  own — that's  the 
trouble.  I'll  admit  that  Loder's  unscrupulous, 
that  he  loves  power,  that  he  will  run  you  over  if 
you  don't  get  out  of  the  way,  that  he  won't  stop 
to  be  the  Good  Samaritan  to  you  if  he's  in  a 
hurry " 

The  elder  man  grunted. 

"Then  you  agree  with  me.  I  said  he  was  an 
unscrupulous  ruffian." 

The  youthful  speaker  laughed. 

"If  he  was  an  ordinary  man  with  only  his  bad 
qualities,  he  would  be  rather  a  brute,  and  perhaps 
merely  a  millionaire.  But  he's  not  ordinary :  he's 
a  microcosm ;  you  ask  absurdities  when  you  ask 
him  to  be  moral  with  the  morality  of  Brixton. 
You  might  as  well  require  geography  to  be  moral, 
or  electricity,  or  a  steam-engine.  If  the  qualities 
of  England  were  the  qualities  of  a  man,  would  he 
be  a  moral  man,  my  dear  sir  ?" 
8 


The  Colossus 

"The  morality  of  a  country  is  a  different  thing, 
I  own.     But  Loder  is  a  man." 

"That's  just  where  you're  wrong.  He's  not  a 
man;  he's  a  kind  of  floating  island,  a  movable 
England,  the  colonising  grabbing  instinct  made 
concrete.  When  England  gets  mad  it  will  go  to 
war  for  an  idea,  won't  it?" 

"If  there's  some  interest  at  the  back  of  the 
idea,"  said  the  elder  man  scornfully. 

"I  don't  see  what  there  is  to  be  so  scornful 
about,"  was  the  answer.  "It's  always  a  question 
of  interest  in  the  final  analysis.  Even  the  re- 
ligious notion  of  going  to  heaven  is  that.  If  a 
man  believes  he  has  a  mansion  in  the  skies,  it's  as 
good  as  the  reversion  of  a  freehold  to  him.  If 
he  has  no  interests  in  immortality  he  won't  worry 
about  it.  But  Loder's  religion  is  having  some- 
thing done,  and  done  now.  He  represents  Eng- 
land out  on  business.  He's  the  British  Buyer 
and  Bagman  if  you  like.  I  dare  say  he  would 
laugh  if  you  said  so  to  his  face.  He's  the  big- 
gest private  real  estate  agent  on  the  earth,  and  is 
Trustee  for  the  Empire,  which  is  an  unmoral 
thing,  as  unmoral  and  as  inevitable  as  a  glacier. 
You  can't  predicate  morality  of  such  men  any 
more  than  you  can  of  the  tides  or  of  the  preces- 
sion of  the  equinoxes.  Loder  is  Loder,  and  you 
have  to  accept  him  as  he  is." 
9 


The  Colossus 

"I  reject  him." 

"I'd  get  naturalised  in  Andorra  if  I  were  you," 
cried  the  defender  of  the  Great  Fetich.  "But  if 
Loder  were  the  concealed  head  of  a  great  na- 
tional department  you  would  only  lament  the 
course  of  policy.  When  you  see  Policy  Incar- 
nate it's  a  bit  of  a  shock.  It's  like  a  study  in  the 
International  nude.  Let  us  have  diplomatic  fig- 
leaves." 

The  young  man  lighted  a  pipe,  and  presently 
both  disputing  friends  departed. 

"That  is  a  very  clever  young  man,"  said  Ger- 
trude. "But  I  wonder  if  Mr.  Policy  Incarnate 
is  still  thinking." 

That  problem  was  soon  solved  by  Loder  com- 
ing round  the  corner  with  his  two  watch-dogs. 

"Ah,  how  d'ye  do,  Miss  Broughton?"  said  the 
Chief.     "I  haven't  seen  you  for  a  long  time." 

Gertrude  made  a  mouth. 

"If  you  will  sit  in  camp  with  outposts  on  all 
sides,  how  do  you  expect  to  see  any  one?"  she 
demanded.  "I  came  round  to  say  'Good-after- 
noon,' but  Mr.  Matthews  barked  so  fiercely  that  I 
ran  away.  But  I  learnt  something  by  coming 
here:  I  heard  a  very  clever  young  man  say  you 
were  most  immoral,  and  that  he  was  glad  of  it." 
This  was  not  accurate  reporting,  and  Gertrude 
knew  it.     "And  he  called  you  Mr.  Policy  In- 


The  Colossus 

carnate,  and  said  you  were  the  biggest  Real 
Estate  Agent  on  Earth." 

"Oh,  did  he  ?"  asked  Loder  absently. 

"And,"  added  Gertrude  viciously,  "he  said  you 
were  not  a  real  man,  but  a  ghastly  grinding 
glacier,  and  the  procession  of  the  equinox,  or 
something  like  that,  and  he  ended  by  saying  you 
were  the  International  Nude." 

Loder  rubbed  his  close-shaved  chin. 

"He  seemed  to  be  pretty  good  at  abuse.  But 
have  you  seen  Lady  Bontine  ?" 

Gertrude  shook  her  head. 

"I  haven't  seen  anybody  but  an  Earth-Bailiff 
and  two  gamekeepers  for  hours,"  she  rephed 
pertly. 

"Yes,  h'm,  ha!"  said  Loder.  And  when  they 
were  twenty  yards  away,  he  turned  to  Wilber- 
force  Matthews :  "Just  you  remember  that,  if  you 
let  her  catch  me  alone,  I'll  wring  your  infernal 
neck  for  vou." 


CHAPTER  II 

Gertrude  felt  as  if  she  could  have  given  one 
of  her  ears  (pretty  as  they  undoubtedly  were)  to 
learn  what  was  the  energetic  remark  made  by  the 
Grinding  Glacier  to  Matthews. 

"Something  about  me,  I'll  swear,"  said  Ger- 
trude.    "But  I  don't  care." 

Of  course  she  did  care,  and  she  knew  she 
cared ;  and  yet  what  she  said  was  true.  She  was 
defying  that  portion  of  herself  which  said  a 
woman  was  not  to  do  the  courting,  or,  at  any  rate, 
not  the  pursuit. 

"But  the  man  will  be  an  old  bachelor  before  he 
knows  it,"  cried  she  pathetically.  "He's  so 
wrapped  up  in  continents  and  things  that  he  for- 
gets he  won't  live  as  long  as  Africa." 

And  even  now  Loder  had  no  time  to  lose  un- 
less he  was  notoriously  immortal.  Silver  had 
long  ago  touched  his  temples,  and  if  in  some 
lights  he  looked  forty  it  was  probable  that  he  was 
nearer  fifty.  She  remembered  what  Emory  Hin- 
ton  had  said  a  year  ago  in  Cape  Town. 

"If  he's  ever  married  it  will  be  by  force ;  he 
will  be  dragged  into  church  by  the  hair  of  his 


The  Colossus 

head.  If  a  woman  civilises  him,  it  will  be  with 
an  imposed  civilisation.  As  a  married  man  he 
would  seem  like  Lobengula  in  evening  dress." 

"He's  a  kind  of  country,"  said  Gertrude.  She 
added  to  herself,  "And  I'm  the  Pioneer  who 
means  to  stay." 

But  it  was  only  in  Cairo  that  Eustace  Loder 
perceived  her  intentions.  If  he  had  been  Loben- 
gula he  might  have  had  her  throat  cut,  but  as  he 
was  Loder,  and  really  scared  to  death  by  the 
younger  and  more  enterprising  woman,  he  only 
doubled  his  vigilance,  and  ordered  Wilberforce 
Matthews  to  guard  him  hourly. 

There  are  some  women  to  whom  a  particular 
man  is  a  kind  of  craze,  or  even  a  mental  pet,  be- 
fore he  becomes  a  passion.  Gertrude  began  by 
collecting  memories  of  Loder  as  she  might  have 
collected  stamps  or  photographs.  She  pleased 
herself  with  playing  (still  in  her  mind)  with  this 
rare  and  dangerous  animal.  She  was  beautiful 
and  had  collected  lovers,  a  cabinet  of  them,  but 
her  collection  was  incomplete  till  she  could  insert 
Loder  into  his  niche.  She  ended  in  forgetting 
everything  but  the  one  thing  wanted.  Without 
the  signature  of  "Gertrude  Loder"  her  collection 
of  autographs  was  nothing.  She  ended  in  want- 
ing to  be  collected;  Loder  was  a  fixed  idea,  but 
she  tried  to  veil  her  own  mind  by  an  affectation 
13 


The  Colossus 

of  lightness;  she  was  flippant  when  she  really 
wanted  to  kneel. 

It  is  hard  for  any  woman  to  believe  that  a  man 
can  dread  women  as  a  body.  For  they  seem  in 
the  abstract  so  contemptible  to  her,  and,  with- 
out visible  proof  to  the  contrary,  so  extremely 
undesirable.  Gertrude  at  last  considered  Loder 
only  really  feared  herself,  and  with  such  a  man 
fear  was  more  akin  to  love  than  ever  pity  could 
be.  Even  if  he  went  no  further,  it  was  a  tri- 
umph to  have  alarmed  the  very  Alarmer  himself ; 
she  had  written  something  terrible  on  Belshaz- 
zar's  walls.     He  clung  fearfully  to  Matthews. 

Her  education  had  been  completed  on  "Castle" 
and  "Union"  boats  between  England  and  Cape 
Town.  For  that  matter  it  had  been  begun  on 
them  too,  for  her  earliest  memories  smelt  of  the 
sea.  Yet  in  spite  of  twenty-five  trips  north  and 
south  she  was  not  spoilt,  and  no  pretence  of  af- 
fectation entirely  hid  a  pleasing  primitiveness  in 
her  emotions. 

She  had  a  great  deal  of  money,  and  no  relations 
to  speak  of.  Her  friend  and  chaperon  at  Cairo 
was  a  distant  cousin,  who  had  married  a  wealthy 
and  successful  politician  at  the  Cape.  Lady 
Bontine  was  in  Cairo  because  Gertrude  had 
dragged  her  there,  while  Sir  George  took  care  of 
himself  and  some  of  Loder's  business  in  London. 
14 


The  Colossus 

When  Loder  had  disappeared  in  the  distance 
Gertrude  shrugged  her  shoulders,  and  went  to 
look  for  her  cousin,  for  the  Chief  would  be  seen 
no  more  till  dinner-time.  Even  then  it  was  pos- 
sible that  he  might  dine  in  his  own  rooms.  For 
Romney,  the  Railway  contractor,  was  expected 
from  Jerusalem,  and  she  knew  they  had  occult 
and  important  work  on  hand. 

"Thank  heaven  it  will  be  livelier  when  Sam 
Romney's  here !"  said  Gertrude.  "But  I  do  wish 
I  knew  what  it  is  all  about." 

She  found  Lady  Bontine  in  her  own  balcony. 

"Why,  where  have  you  been?"  asked  her 
cousin.  "You've  been  roasting  your  complexion 
in  the  sun." 

"So  I  have,"  said  Gertrude.  "I'm  extravagant 
in  complexions." 

"And  will  be  bankrupt  in  them  some  day,"  said 
the  elder  woman,  sighing.  "But  now  we'll  have 
tea." 

"What  I  want  to  know  is  this,"  cried  Gertrude 
presently :  "what  are  we  all  here  for  ?" 

"I'm  here  because  you  would  come." 

"And  I  came  because " 

"Because  Mr.  Loder  came.  I  really  think,  Ger- 
trude  " 

"My  dear  Tiny,  don't  think  in  Cairo.  I  want 
to  know  why  the  Chief  is  here.  I've  a  dim  shad- 
es 


The  Colossus 

owy  idea,  but  I  want  to  know  just  exactly.  Do 
you  know?" 

Tiny  shook  her  head. 

"George  has  told  me  a  dozen  times,  if  he  has 
told  me  once,  but  I  get  it  wrong.  For  sometimes 
when  he  has  been  talking  he  will  stop  and  say, 
'Now,  what  have  I  told  you?'  and  I  just  can't 
repeat  it.  And  this  railway  business  is  as  confus- 
ing as  that  about  going  into  the  garden  to  cut 
a  cabbage  to  make  an  apple  pie." 

"I  know,"  laughed  Gertrude.  "  'And  the  Job- 
lilHes  and  the  Piccaninnies  and  the  Great  Pan- 
jandrum with  the  little  button  on  top  danced 
catch-who-catch-can  till  the  gunpowder  ran  out 
of  their  heels."  And  here  we  arc,  Joblillies,  Pic- 
caninnies, and  Great  Panjandrum  too.  But 
what  does  Eustace  Panjandrum  want?  Come 
now !" 

Lady  Bontine  shook  her  fair  and  fluffy  head. 

"It's  something  about  the  railway  and  the 
French  financiers  and  the  Germans.  Mr.  Oppen- 
heimer  and  Mr.  Romney  are  all  in  it.  And  the 
Egyptians  won't,  or  something;  but  what  it  is 
they  won't  I  don't  know.  For  it's  most  confus- 
ing, and  worse  than  chess." 

Gertrude  smiled. 

"It  does  seem  confusing.  Poor  Tiny !  I  do 
pity  you  when  George  holds  up  his  finger  and 
i6 


The  Colossus 

says,  'Now  tell  me  what  I've  said.'  But  I'll  ask 
Romney.    I  just  love  Sam."  . 

Tiny  shook  her  head. 

"He's  the  strangest  man.  And  if  you  think 
Mr.  Romney  will  open  his  mouth  if  he  doesn't 
want  to,  you  don't  know  him.  He  can  be  as  close 
as  an  oyster." 

"In  the  close  season?" 

Tiny  nodded. 

"But  what's  the  good  of  talking  to  you  ?  Have 
you  spoken  to  Mr,  Loder  to-day?" 

Gertrude  frowned. 

"He  spoke  to  me  with  Mr.  Matthews  on  one 
side  of  him  and  Mr.  Hinton  on  the  other,  and 
I  said  he  was  a  ghastly  grinding  glacier." 

"What  did  you  mean?" 

"Him,"  said  Gertrude,  "and  so  he  is.  But 
what's  he  doing  here?  I  will  know,  if  I  have  to 
seduce  Mr.  Hinton " 

"Gertrude !"  remonstrated  Tiny. 

"From  his  duty,"   went  on   Gertrude   coolly. 

'"What's  the  use  of  being  a  fascinating  person  if 

I  can't  find  out  things?  and  if  Emory  Hinton  is 

hurt  by  a  ricochet,  it's  the  fault  of  my  target, 

not  of  my  shooting." 

"You  are  incomprehensible,"  sighed  her  cousin, 
"but  I  think  you  should  leave  Mr.  Hinton 
alone.     He's  a  very  nice  young  fellow,  and  far 

a  17 


The  Colossus 

too  much  inclined  to  fall  in  love  with  you  as 
it  is." 

"You  don't  say  so!"  remarked  Gertrude  ab- 
sently.   "Poor  crow!" 

For  she  was  not  out  after  crows  in  Cairo. 

"And  of  course  it's  absurd,"  went  on  Tiny. 

"What's  absurd?  His  being  too  much  in- 
clined?" 

"No.    You're  encouraging  him." 

"I'm  not  doing  it." 

"I  only  said  it  would  be  if  you  did." 

"It  won't  be  my  fault,"  said  Gertrude. 

"No,  perhaps  not.  It's  a  little  too  obvious 
what  your  intentions  are." 

"They  are  at  least  strictly  honorable,"  replied 
Gertrude  flippantly,  "and  you  know  you've  helped 
me. 

But  that  was  because  Tiny  Bontine  could  not 
help  herself  when  Gertrude  pawed  the  grass. 

"H'm,"  grunted  Gertrude.  "Now,  supposing 
you  fell  in  love  with  a  deaf,  dumb,  and  blind  man, 
what  would  you  do?" 

"I  would  drown  myself,"  said  Tiny  with  sud- 
den energy. 

"Leaving  water  on  one  side,"  insisted  her 
cousin,  "how  would  you  indicate  your  prefer- 
ence ?  You  couldn't  do  it  with  a  meek  and  falter- 
ing voice ;  nor  by  blushes.    You  couldn't  even  do 


The  Colossus 

it  by  allowing  him  to  talk.  You  see,  in  some 
cases  we  are  reduced  to  desperate  remedies." 

She  paused. 

"But  I  feel  pretty  miserable,  Tiny." 

"I  think  we'd  better  go  to  Jerusalem.  My 
dear,  I  don't  believe  it's  any  good.  And,  besides, 
I  really  think  it's  more  pique  than  passion  with 
you." 

Gertrude  sat  up  straight. 

"I  never  thought  you  could  be  so  nasty  and 
unsympathetic!"  she  cried.  If  I  don't  marry 
Eustace  Loder  I'll  never  marry  any  one  else." 

"You're  young,"  said  Tiny. 

"I'm  twenty-six." 

Tiny  sighed  again. 

"And  I  am  thirty-seven  to-day,  Gertrude." 

So  Gertrude  bent  and  kissed  her. 

"We  are  twins,  and  I'm  the  oldest  and  the 
wisest.  And  when  George  comes  I'll  get  him  to 
tell  me  what  the  Big  Intrigue  is,  and  I'll  teach  it 
you  and  you  can  tell  it  him  again." 

She  leant  over  the  balcony. 

"That  jackal  Matthews  is  loose.  That  means 
the  Chief  is  lying  down.  I  just  hate  Matthews. 
He's  a  crawling  chameleon,  and  takes  just  what- 
ever color  the  Panjandrum  is.  If  he  and  Hinton 
were  to  quarrel,  and  Emory  were  to  punch 
Matthews'  head,  I  would  drop  a  few  crumbs  of 
19 


The  Colossus 

compassion  in  his  way.  I  don't  want  Matthews 
to  see  me ;  when  he  says  'My  dear  Miss  Brough- 
ton'  I  could  slay  him." 

She  lay  back  in  her  chair  and  stared  into  the 
great  Nile  flood.  But  between  the  balcony  pillars 
she  could  see  the  wandering  Matthews,  who 
looked  lost  without  his  master. 

"I  wish  I  knew  whether  Mr.  Loder  had  spoken 
to  him  about  me,"  thought  Gertrude.  "If  he 
hasn't  I  could  be  civil  to  him." 

The  lost  dog  went  out  of  sight,  and  presently 
Emory  Hinton  came  down  the  alley  of  palms  and, 
jumping  on  the  balustrade  against  the  river,  sat 
down  with  his  legs  dangling.  He  lighted  a  cigar- 
ette and  did  not  look  round. 

"But  he  knows  I'm  here,"  said  Gertrude;  "I 
can  see  it  in  his  back." 

She  patted  Tiny  on  the  head  and  went  away. 
Five  minutes  later  she  emerged  from  the  same 
lane  of  palms,  and  came  behind  Emory  Hinton. 

"Good-afternoon,  Mr.  Hinton." 

"Oh,  good-afternoon.  Miss  Broughton!" 

He  swung  his  legs  round  and  lighted  on  the 
path. 

"I've  spoilt  your  meditation  time,"  said  Ger- 
trude. 

"I'd  much  rather  talk  to  you,"  cried  Hinton. 
"My  thoughts  are  not  so  pleasant." 


The  Colossus 

Gertrude  nodded  hastily. 

"No  one's  always  are.  But  you  have  such  com- 
plex business  to  think  about.  How  are  things 
going,  Mr.  Hinton?" 

"They  just  move.  Or  we  think  so,"  said  the 
Secretary.  But  his  eyes  showed  he  was  not  think- 
ing of  railways. 

"I  wish  you  would  explain  to  me  again  what  it 
is  all  about !" 

Hinton  opened  his  eyes  this  time. 

"Did  I  ever  do  it?    I  don't  remember." 

"How  very  rude  of  you!"  said  Gertrude. 
"How  dare  you  contradict  me?  Why,  we  had  a 
most  interesting  conversation  in  London,  when 
you  told  me  about  the  French  financiers  and  Mr. 
Oppenheimer  and  Sam  Romney.  But  I  got 
mixed.  Now  I  want  you  to  tell  me  in  a  few  brief 
but  well-chosen  words,  so  to  speak,  what  it  is  all 
about." 

Emory  smoked  his  cigarette  for  a  long  half- 
minute. 

"And  we'll  sit  down  here  while  you  do  it," 
cried  Gertrude. 

So  Hinton  sat  down. 

"Well,  after  all,"  he  said  to  himself,  "I  don't 
see  why  not — to  some  extent,  anyhow."  He 
threw  his  cigarette  away.  "What  a  beautiful 
rose  you  are  wearing.  Miss  Broughton!" 

21 


The  Colossus 

"Isn't  it?"  said  Gertrude.  She  took  it  out  of 
her  bosom  and  held  it  in  the  hand  nearest  the 
Secretary.    "Now  begin !" 

"It's  railways,  of  course,"  said  Hinton. 

"Naturally.  He  never  thinks  about  anything 
but  rails.    To  put  down  or  pull  up." 

"And  it's  Finance." 

"That's  the  snow  at  the  back  of  the  Grinding 
Glacier,"  said  Gertrude,  who  had  been  in  Switzer- 
land, and  there  flirted  with  some  scores  of  men 
who  wore  goggles  and  heavy  boots  and  explained 
mountains  familiarly. 

"And  international  politics." 

"Which  always  remind  one  of  a  block  at  the 
Mansion  House,"  said  Gertrude.  "And  Mr. 
Loder  drives  a  railway  van  and  yells  to  the  Duke 
of  Enfield  in  the  English  lorry  to  hurry  up." 

Hinton  laughed. 

"You're  very  clever." 

"Too  clever  by  half,"  said  the  flippant  Ger- 
trude. "I  wish  I  was  quite  a  fool  instead  of  half 
one.  But  don't  let  me  interrupt  you.  Tell  me  all 
about  it.  For  you  are  cleverer  than  I  am  because 
you  can  pretend  not  to  be.  And  I  just  say  things 
and  chance  their  being  good.    But  do  go  on." 

"Well,"  said  Hinton,  "If  I  don't  interrupt  you 
I'll  go  on.    Mr,  Loder  looks  ahead." 

"And  doesn't  see  what's  under  his  nose." 


The  Colossus 

Hinton  shook  his  head. 

"Don't  make  any  mistake.  The  Chief  doesn't 
see  what  he  doesn't  want  to  see."  And  he  won- 
dered why  a  cloud  passed  over  his  companion's 
face.  "And  looking  ahead  he  sees  a  line  of  rail- 
way from  here  to  Cape  Town.  But  to  make  it 
is  to  build  for  the  future.  And  to  build  for  the 
future  is  to  lock  up  money,  and  to  lock  up  money 
which  may  be  made  to  breed  in  other  ways,  is 
what  the  men  of  Finance  don't  like,  and  the 
scheme  must  have  the  big  ones.  For  little  ones 
want  interest  sooner  even  than  the  big  ones.  So 
some  one  has  to  guarantee  interest  even  after  the 
big  capital  is  collected.    You  follow  that?" 

"Like  ABC.    You  put  it  so  clearly." 

"But  England  is  a  visitor  in  Egypt.  If  she 
were  to  annex  it  English  capital  would  come  in. 
But  she  won't,  because  she  doesn't  want  to  at 
present.  The  Duke  is  in  the  block  yet,  and  hasn't 
a  clear  road  before  him.  We  can't  wait  till  An- 
nexation Day,  because  Loder  wants  to  do  it  now. 
So  we  must  get  capital  where  we  can.  The 
French  Houses  represented  by  that  Cazoule  will 
come  in  on  terms.  But  then  their  terms  would 
keep  the  Germans  out,  and  without  the  Germans 
we  can't  proceed — at  present,  anyhow.  There's  a 
deadlock  just  now,  a  block  in  Bulak  Street,  to 
take  your  admirable  simile.  You  know  the 
23 


The  Colossus 

French  influence  at  the  Khedivial  Court.  We 
can't  so  far  move  the  Egyptians  to  be  nice  and 
pliant,  and  unless  we  annex  or  protect  we  can't 
bend  them  by  force.  Protection  means  having 
the  power  to  treat  them  as  we  choose.  It's  almost 
like  marriage.  I  understand  a  man  may  beat  his 
wife,  but  not  his  hostess.  And  Madame  Egypt 
is  our  hostess,  who  is  continually  suggesting  we 
should  go  home.    So  now  do  you  understand?" 

He  lighted  another  cigarette. 

"Pretty  well,"  said  Gertrude  rather  doubtfully. 
"But  now  we've  got  the  Soudan  back  and  sent  the 
French  away,  I  don't  see  why  we  can't  go  ahead 
and  tell  them  all  to  lump  it." 

"Where's  the  money?"  asked  Hinton  dryly. 
"At  the  rate  of  so  many  thousand  pounds  per 
mile  and  so  many  thousand  miles,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  leakage,  the  bill  is  big,  and  we  can't  pay  it. 
To  whom  does  it  belong  when  it's  built?  And 
how  are  we  to  get  the  right-of-way  where  we 
have  none,  if  we  say  we  will  do  it  off  our  own 
bat?  We  just  have  to  reconcile  the  French  and 
German  interests  in  some  way." 

"Could  you  bluff  them?" 

Hinton  smiled,  and  almost  winked.  He  looked 
affectionately  in  the  direction  of  the  Chief's  room. 

"What  our  side  doesn't  know  about  bluffing  is 
not  to  be  learnt.  But  we  have  to  drive  the  Eng- 
24 


The  Colossus 

lish,  the  Egyptian,  the  German,  and  the  French- 
man, and  they  are  a  tickHsh  team.  And  be- 
sides  " 

He  stopped. 

"And  besides?"  urged  Gertrude. 

"And  besides — oh,  nothing,"  said  Hinton. 

Gertrude  smelt  the  flower,  and  held  it  to  his 
nose. 

"And  besides  ?"  said  she  once  more. 

"And  besides,  there's  Romney." 

"^Romney !    Why,  he's  one  of  you." 

Emory  Hinton  nodded. 

"But  he  has  notions  of  his  own  and  a  backbone, 
and  though  he's  all  right  with  the  Chief,  he 
doesn't  absolutely  fall  flat  when  Mr.  Loder's 
name  is  mentioned,  any  more  than  Bontine  does ; 
and  they  are  almost  the  only  two  who  don't  on 
our  side.  The  Chief's  got  'em  all  hypnotised  but 
these  two.  And  a  good  deal  depends  on  Romney ; 
he  could  make  things  easier,  I  think." 

"How?" 

"I  don't  quite  know  how,"  said  Hinton  hastily. 
"When  he  comes,  ask  him.  You  are  a  great  fa- 
vorite of  the  big  fair  devil's,  are  you  not?" 

"I  think  I  am,"  said  Gertrude. 

"But  don't  mention  me.  Though  there's  noth- 
ing in  all  this  that  is  not  known  by  everybody  in 
politics  here,  it's  never  well  to  say  even  what  the 

25 


The  Colossus 

others  know.  So  it's  in  confidence."  He  was 
rather  fond  of  Gertrude,  but  not  so  much  a  victim 
as  to  have  lost  a  certain  rather  boyish  coolness. 
"My  rose,  please,"  he  said,  as  he  took  it. 

"You  are  an  impudent  lad,"  cried  Gertrude, 
laughing. 

"Fm  a  deal  older  than  you.  Miss  Broughton.'* 
He  put  the  rose  in  his  coat, 
"Yes,  I'm  very  young,  Mr.  Hinton." 
Hinton  looked  over  her  head  at  some  one  com- 
ing their  way. 
"By  the  holy  poker,  here's  Romney !"  he  cried. 


CHAPTER   III 

RoMNEY  had  come  straight  from  Jerusalem. 
It  is  true  that  his  business  there  was  connected 
with  a  railway  to  Damascus,  and  a  possible  ex- 
tension to  Tadmor,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  he 
would  have  gone  to  Syria  for  business  alone.  He 
combined  it  with  pleasure,  and  pleasure  with  re- 
ligion. He  was  an  ardent  Christian.  He  was 
an  ardent  Catholic — the  more  fervent  that  he  had 
not  always  been  one.  What  added  to  his  fervor 
at  times  was  the  appalling  ease  with  which  he 
lapsed  from  every  grace  but  faith.  But  he  was  a 
source  of  humor  even  to  his  Confessors,  and  was 
never  without  an  element  of  surprise  to  the  most 
experienced  of  them. 

His  heavenly  passion  was  the  Church ;  his  men- 
tal passion  the  study  of  the  Angelical  Doctor  in 
Latin ;  his  earthly  passion  the  construction  of 
Railways  and  Bridges,  and  the  making  of  Con- 
tracts ahead  of  present  work. 

To  see  Romney  at  the  table  was  a  revelation: 

he  rolled  like  a  buoy  in  a  tideway,  and  roared  for 

the  menu.    A  meal  for  him  was  a  week's  food  for 

many.    But  he  gave  an  appetite  to  all  within  eye- 

27 


The  Colossus 

shot.  He  was  so  miraculously  well,  so  childlike, 
so  pleasant,  so  tremendous.  Even  a  dyspeptic 
plucked  up  courage  in  his  company,  and  ap- 
peared to  eat  vicariously.  To  eat  was  the  whole 
duty  of  man.  He  threw  himself  into  the  matter 
of  dining  as  he  did  into  the  fulfilment  of  Con- 
tracts. 

And  after  eating  he  usually  read  something — 
anything  religious.    It  was  grace  after  meat. 

His  recreations  were  a  frequent  source  of 
trouble  in  hotels.  He  hankered  after  music,  and 
was  sometimes  smitten  with  the  belief  that  mel- 
ody could  be  extracted  from  any  instrument  by 
perseverance  alone.  He  blew  a  trumpet  till  his 
face  was  like  the  westering  sun  in  a  fog ;  he  tried 
the  bugle  as  though  at  last  this  hour  was  the  ac- 
cepted time.  He  blew  at  a  fresh  instrument  with 
the  round  cheeks  of  a  gigantic  cherub.  Unlike 
the  cherub,  however,  "il  avait  de  quoi  de  s'as- 
seoir."  He  was  gigantic,  rotund,  humorous,  lov- 
able. His  laugh  was  a  fresh  gale  of  wind;  his 
chuckle  most  infectious — as  infectious  as  his 
energy.  He  sometimes  wondered  why  he  did  not 
now  stay  at  home  in  England  and  really  enjoy 
himself.  This  lament  raised  in  his  casual  ac- 
quaintances fevered  speculations  as  to  what  form 
his  real  enjoyment  would  take. 

He  came  swinging  down  the  palm  avenue  now 
28 


The  Colossus 

like  a  heavy  barge  in  an  eight-knot  ebb,  and 
roared  greetings  to  Hinton. 

"Well,  my  boy,  how  are  you  ?  Glad  to  see  you 
— and  you,  Miss  Broughton.  Well,  I  say,  now 
where's  Loder?  I  saw  his  puppy-dog,  Matthews, 
without  his  string." 

"The  Chief  is  lying  down,"  said  Hinton,  laugh- 
ing. "But  you  can  see  him  at  dinner.  Are  you 
hungry  ?" 

Romney  shook  hands  with  them,  and  sat  down 
on  the  marble  buttress  of  the  balustrade. 

"None  of  your  chafif,  Hinton.  You  know  I'm 
always  hungry,  and  at  Jerusalem  I  caused  a  fam- 
ine.   I  harried  Syria." 

"Yea,  even  unto  Damascus,"  cried  Miss 
Broughton ;  "but  I  hope  you  feel  better  for  hav- 
ing been  to  Jerusalem." 

Romney  nodded,  but  did  not  follow  her  lead. 
He  looked  on  her  as  a  scoffer,  and  suspected  her 
of  atheism,  although  he  liked  her. 

"Has  Bontine  come  yet?"  he  asked. 

"We  are  not  at  all  sure  he  will  come,"  replied 
Hinton.  "He  seems  pretty  busy  with  Berwick 
in  England." 

Romney  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"It  seems  a  waste  to  have  the  two  Persuaders, 
as  you  call  'em,  Emory,  in  the  same  place.    But 
that's  Loder's  lookout,  not  mine." 
29 


The  Colossus 

"I'm  not  sure  Berwick  of  the  silver  tongue 
won't  come  out  with  Bontine,"  said  Emory.  "We 
may  want  some  one  here  who  is  so  transparently 
simple  and  straightforward." 

Romney  rippled  all  over,  and  then  roared.  His 
chuckle  was  a  rapid,  his  laugh  the  Falls  of  the 
Zambesi. 

"Oh,  Berwick  is  so,  so  simple,"  said  he  as  he 
wiped  his  eyes.  "But  he's  a  ripping  good  chap. 
You  might  turn  him  on  to  this  Cazoule,  who  is 
another  sweetly  simple  dear." 

Gertrude  Broughton  tapped  her  foot  on  the 
ground. 

"I  do  wish  I  knew  what  you  men  were  talking 
about,"  she  cried  with  pretended  pettishness. 
"But  perhaps  you'll  tell  me,  Mr.  Romney.  I 
can't  get  anything  out  of  Mr.  Hinton.  He  threw 
out  dark  hints,  and  that's  all.  Will  you  enlighten 
me?" 

"To  be  sure  I  will,  some  day,"  said  Romney 
with  a  wink  at  Emory.  "Bless  you,  it's  a  simple 
situation.    But  why  don't  you  ask  Loder?" 

Gertrude's  eyes  flashed. 

"It's  time  to  dress  for  dinner,"  she  said,  as  she 
rose.    "And  till  then " 

"We  are  your  devoted  servants,"  said  Romney. 

"Quite  so,"  cried  Gertrude.  "At  dinner  you 
forget  every  one." 

30 


The  Colossus 

When  she  was  out  of  earshot  Romney  clapped 
Hinton  on  the  shoulder. 

"Does  she  make  any  headway  with  him?" 

Emory  grunted. 

"No,"  he  said  shortly. 

"Well,  I  like  Gertrude  Broughton,"  cried  the 
Contractor,  "but  if  she  corralled  your  dear  and 
precious  Chief  it  would  be  biting  off  more  than 
she  could  chew.  And  now,  how  are  things  go- 
ing?"   He  turned  quite  serious. 

"We're  making  deuced  little  headway,  and 
that's  the  sober  truth,"  said  Hinton. 

"Is  Cazoule  still  as  obstinate?" 

"Against  Oppenheimer  ?" 

Romney  nodded. 

"Just  as  obstinate.  Isn't  it  rather  a  pity  that 
he  must  stay  in  ?" 

Romney  looked  like  a  thunder-cloud. 

"My  good  faith  is  concerned  with  him,  and 
sooner  than  go  back  on  him  I'd  have  the  Nile 
turned  into  the  Red  Sea,  Did  Loder  put  you  up 
to  sound  me  again?" 

"The  Chief  hasn't  mentioned  the  matter  since 
you  had  it  out  with  him  last  time.  But  even  I 
can  see  that  the  whole  affair  may  fall  through 
unless  you  and  Oppenheimer  give  way  a  little," 

Romney  got  up. 

"A  little,  a  little!  You  know  very  well  that  it 
31 


The  Colossus 

is  more  than  a  little!  Oppenheimer  would  have 
to  go  out.    And  he  shan't!" 

Emory  Hinton  laughed. 

"Then  that  settles  it.  For  heaven's  sake  don't 
tell  the  Chief  I  said  anything  to  you  about  it. 
For  he  would  make  my  life  a  burden  to  me  for 
days.  And  his  preference,  as  you  know,  is  for 
Cazoule  to  have  to  give  way." 

"And  how  do  things  go  at  home?  Will  the 
Duke  stir  at  all?" 

"Devil  a  stir,"  said  Hinton.  "And  that's  the 
first  bell." 

They  walked  to  the  hotel  together,  and  the 
first  of  the  party  down  to  dinner  was  Romney. 
And  Loder  was  last. 

"The  Grinding  Glacier's  in  a  grinding  mood," 
said  Gertrude  as  she  sat  down  next  Hinton.  On 
Emory's  right  was  the  Chief.  Romney  occu- 
pied the  opposite  end  of  the  table.  The  Chief 
and  the  Contractor  shook  hands. 

"Glad  to  see  you  back,"  said  Loder  in  a  pecu- 
liarly abstracted  way.  It  was  as  if  he  shook 
hands  with  an  incarnation  of  contracts  rather 
than  with  a  living  man. 

"Glad  to  be  back  myself,"  said  Romney,  div- 
ing for  soup.  "I  really  wonder  I  don't  stay  in 
England  and  have  a  good  time." 

"But  you  must  make  railways,  Mr.  Romney," 
32 


The  Colossus 

cried  Tiny  Bontine.  "We  all  know  you  can't  be 
happy  without  railways." 

Romney  recovered  from  the  slight  chill  cast 
over  him  by  Loder's  most  infernal  impassivity. 
He  laughed  like  a  boy. 

"Plenty  to  make,  my  dear  Lady  Bontine. 
Bless  me !  we  haven't  begun  yet." 

"That's  the  truth,"  said  Loder  with  a  grunt; 
"and  the  way  we  are  going  it  will  be  a  long  time 
till  we  do." 

Romney,  as  the  temporary  obstacle,  felt  rather 
uncomfortable,  and  Hinton  chipped  into  the  talk. 

"Have  you  heard  from  Sir  George?"  he  asked 
Lady  Bontine. 

"Yes,  but  he  can't  get  away  yet,  he  says." 

"Might  just  as  well  stay  where  he  is,"  sug- 
gested Loder  gloomily. 

"Oh,  Mr.  Loder,  how  can  you  say  so?"  asked 
Gertrude.  "When  his  wife  wants  him  his  place 
is  here." 

"You  very  young  people  do  invert  things  now- 
adays," said  the  Chief  as  he  scanned  the  wine  list 
and  picked  his  favorite  Montrachet. 

Gertrude  flushed  a  little. 

"Serves  her  right,"  said  Wilberforce  Mat- 
thews to  himself.    "It  just  serves  her  right." 

But  the  Chief  did  not  mean  what  the  dog 
thought,  and  did  not  see  for  a  moment  what 
3  33 


The  Colossus 

he  had  said.  When  he  did  see  he  laughed  a  lit- 
tle nervously.  The  sound  was  curiously  high- 
pitched. 

"All  things  alter  nowadays,"  he  added.  "Gib- 
bon took  years  to  write  his  history.  But  they 
turn  out  great  works  now  before  the  blood  is 
dry  on  a  battlefield," 

"We  live  faster,  sir,"  said  Hinton  cheerfully. 
"And  want  to  go  faster.  We  have  to  live  up 
to  railways." 

"Loder  shouldn't  growl  at  the  fast  pace,"  cried 
Romney.  "Didn't  he  call  the  music  in  South 
Africa?  An  old  Conservative  like  him  to  do  a 
hundred  years'  work  in  ten!  But  it's  always  a 
Conservative  who  does  the  work." 

"I  was  reading  something  in  Mark  Twain 
to-day,"  cried  Gertrude  to  show  the  good  re- 
covery she  had  made,  "and  I  came  across  a 
character  who  reminded  me  of  you,  Mr.  Loder." 

The  Chief  accentuated  a  certain  courtesy 
which  sat  on  him  well  when  he  chose. 

"Please  let  me  hear  about  it.  Miss  Brough- 
ton." 

"He  was  a  perfectly  adorable  ruffian  called 
Buck  Fanshawe.  A  friend  of  his  said,  'He  just 
loved  peace.  Why,  last  election  when  a  row  was 
going  to  start.  Buck  lighted  into  the  crowd  with 
a  steel  spanner  in  one  hand  and  a  brass  trumpet 
34 


The  Colossus 

in  the  other,  and  sent  eleven  men  home  on  shut- 
ters in  a  minute  and  three-quarters.  He  broke 
up  that  riot  before  it  had  time  to  begin.  Oh, 
he  would  have  peace !'  " 

Every  one  laughed,  and  the  Chief  led  it.  This 
time  he  laughed  from  his  head  to  his  heels,  a 
good  honest  chuckle. 

"Well,"  said  Romney  slyly  with  a  shake  of  his 
head,  "we've  known  Loder  to  come  into  an  elec- 
tion pretty  much  the  same  way,  with  a  British 
trumpet  in  one  hand  and  a  cast-iron  Redistribu- 
tion Bill  in  the  other." 

"For  heaven's  sake.  Miss  Broughton,  don't 
get  trumpets  brought  to  the  front,"  said  Hinton, 
"or  we  may  find  it  difficult  to  sleep  to-night.  I 
have  awful  visions  of  Mr.  Romney  playing  out- 
side our  doors,  while  the  Manager  and  twenty 
waiters  try  to  stop  the  riot  in  vain." 

He  gave  Loder  time  to  recover  from  Rom- 
ney's  quiet  dig.  For  the  time  that  the  Contrac- 
tor alluded  to  had  not  been  quite  so  successful 
for  Loder  as  it  might  have  been. 

"We  can't  all  be  Buck  Fanshawes,"  said  the 
Chief  dryly.  "But  a  man  isn't  always  beaten 
when  he  looks  like  it.  There  are  people  in  the 
Transvaal  who  could  tell  you  that.  Or  in  Berlin 
either." 

He  dropped  into  a  sudden  fit  of  abstraction, 

35 


The  Colossus 

during  which  time  he  drank  Montrachet  as  if  it 
were  the  commonest  Sauterne. 

"The  Chief  is  lost,"  whispered  Hinton  to  Ger- 
trude. 

"Gone  under  in  a  flood,"  she  nodded.  And 
they  talked  without  him. 

He  was  deep  in  the  intrigue  and  could  not 
come  out.  Not  once  did  he  get  his  head  up  dur- 
ing the  remainder  of  dinner.  How  to  get  rid 
of  Oppenheimer  to  whom  this  impolitic  Romney 
clung  with  such  pathetic  faith,  or  how  to  ram 
Oppenheimer  down  the  reluctant  throat  of  Ca- 
zoule  ?  How,  in  fine,  to  play  the  Franco-Prussian 
War  over  again  and  get  the  benefits  out  of  it? 
It  was  a  tough  task. 

"I  should  like  to  have  a  talk  with  you  in  my 
rooms,  Romney,"  he  said  as  he  rose  from  the 
table. 

"In  half  an  hour,"  nodded  Romney. 

And  during  that  half-hour  he  read  a  little  in 
Newman's  "Apologia,"  smoked  a  cigar  and  drank 
a  long  whiskey-and-soda. 

"Now,"  he  said  as  he  rose,  "I  know  he'll  be 
at  me  again  about  Ludwig  Oppenheimer,  I've 
just  half  a  mind  to  send  word  to  him  that  if 
that  is  what  he  wants  I  won't  come." 

But  Romney  only  had  half  the  mind  to  do  it, 
and  could  not  find  the  other  half.  Though 
36 


The  Colossus 

Eustace  Loder  had  not  entirely  fascinated  this 
railroad  bird  as  he  sat  on  his  bough,  Romney 
was  partly  dominated  by  the  bigger  man  when 
they  were  at  close  quarters.  Always  provided, 
however,  that  Loder  did  not  assume  his  chair- 
man manner  at  a  meeting  of  directors.  That 
manner  was  known  to  be  slightly  dictatorial. 
"Do  as  I  say,  or  I'll  wring  your  infernal  necks." 
He  treated  them  as  he  treated  Wilberforce  Mat- 
thews when  things  went  wrong. 

"Just  you  remember  I'm  not  one  of  your  di- 
rectors, Mr.  Loder." 

Romney  said  that  once.  And  Loder  did  re- 
member. It  did  him  good  to  be  opposed  at 
times.  Report  had  it  that  his  manner  had  been 
vastly  improved  since  his  last  great  political  dis- 
aster. For  the  man  who  has  never  had  a  thrash- 
ing is  usually  an  impossible  companion. 

Sam  Romney  found  the  Chief  stretched  in  a 
vast  cane  chair  by  the  open  windows  looking  on 
the  garden.  There  was  another  chair  drawn  up 
for  the  builder  of  railways. 

"So  you  want  to  see  me,"  said  Romney. 

"What  will  you  drink?"  asked  the  Chief,  who 
was  smoking  a  long  black  cigar. 

"I'll  have  some  coffee,"  said  Romney. 

"Grumph,"  said  Loder.     "And  how  did  you 
get  on  at  Jerusalem?" 
37 


The  Colossus 

"I  went  round  again  and  stirred  some  of  them. 
I  got  the  Tadmor  concession." 

"It's  a  kind  of  tramline,"  said  Loder,  with  a 
smile.  The  smile  grew,  and  presently  he  rum- 
bled with  laughter. 

"Well?"  asked  Romney. 

"Really,  Romney,  for  you  to  go  round  picking 
up  these  small  things  seems  out  of  character.  A 
big  man  should  take  big  things  only." 

Sam  Romney  slapped  his  breast  pocket. 

"I've  got  'em,  Loder.  But  you  have  to  start. 
Can't  I  build  a  Tadmor  and  Damascus  tram  to 
keep  my  hand  in  while  you  are  getting  ready?" 

The  smile  died  out  of  Loder's  face ;  he  looked 
away  from  Romney  and  through  the  windows. 
He  became  cold  and  quiet;  his  jaw  set  a  little; 
the  muscles  in  his  heavy  jowl  altered  the  lines  of 
his  under  jaw  and  throat.    He  locked  his  fingers. 

"You've  got  the  contracts  to  do  the  work,"  he 
said  presently  in  rather  an  abstracted  way,  "and 
if  there's  any  man  I'd  like  to  put  the  road 
through,  it's  you.  You've  got  guts  and  go  and 
energy,  and,  good  lord !  the  sapless,  pithless  beg- 
gars one  has  to  put  up  with  for  fools  at  times. 
Even  the  best  of  'em  hanker  to  go  away  and  eat 
lotus.  I've  made  'em,  and  yet  if  some  weren't 
ashamed  to  leave  me,  they  would  be  painting 
Paris  red  instead  of  helping  me.  But  though 
38 


The  Colossus 

you  think  you  want  to  go  home,  you  don't  want ; 
you  want  to  build  railways,  and  I  want  'em 
done.  Well,  there's  a  block,  a  block,  Samuel 
Romney,  and  we'll  all  be  piled  up  in  the  sluit  if 
it's  not  broken." 

Romney  said  nothing.  For  he  knew  what  was 
coming.  The  Chief  glanced  at  his  rubicund 
companion. 

"If  we  don't  get  through  this  time,  you  may 
tear  up  your  contracts,  Romney," 

The  Contractor  smiled. 

"You  will  get  through,"  he  said  coolly. 

"But  you  are  not  helping,"  said  Loder.  "I 
can  carry  you  over  the  drift,  but  if  you  have 
Oppenheimer  on  your  back  we  shall  get  spilt." 

"I  can't  get  rid  of  Oppenheimer." 

Loder  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"You  can,  but  you  won't,  Romney." 

"Then  I  won't,"  said  Romney,  "but  even  if  I 
would,  you  know  I  can't  take  on  the  job  with- 
out more  backing  than  my  own  check-book." 

"I  can  find  you  backing.  And  this  is  a  matter 
of  politics.  My  dear  Romney,  this  can't  be 
made  a  matter  of  private  Hking  and  religious 
sympathy  and  that  kind  of  thing.  If  you  knew 
nothing  of  Ludwig  Oppenheimer  you  would 
throw  him  over  fast  enough." 

"But  I  do  know  him,  and  I'll  stick  to  him," 
39 


The  Colossus 

said  Romney.  "We've  been  partners  for  years, 
and  he  stuck  to  me  when  I  went  broke.  Now 
he  shall  have  a  cut  in,  or  I'll  know  why  he 
doesn't.     What's  the  objection,  after  all?" 

"I  can  manage  to  do  without  the  Germans, 
but,  as  it  stands,  not  without  the  French,"  said 
Loder.  "And,  besides,  I  think  Cazoule  has  his 
own  reasons  for  hating  Oppenheimer." 

Romney  laughed. 

"He  may  have,  but  he'll  have  to  swallow  him. 
You  will  make  him  do  it." 

"You  don't  know  how  everything  stands,'* 
growled  Loder,  "and  you  don't  know  what  it  is 
to  have  an  English  Foreign  Office  to  drag  after 
you,  and  you  don't  even  know  why  we  haven't  a 
Protectorate  here,  and  if  I  were  to  spend  the 
night  explaining  it,  you  would  say  in  the  morn- 
ing what  you  say  now." 

Romney  got  up  and  leant  against  the  window- 
frame. 

"Some  of  us,"  he  replied,  "have  greater  faith 
in  you,  even  though  we  won't  do  exactly  what 
you  want,  than  you  appear  to  desire  us  to  have. 
And  this  political  side  is  your  work  and  Bullen's 
and  Enfield's.  My  work  is  to  build  railways,  and 
do  'em  well,  and  to  keep  faith  with  my  partner." 
He  got  a  little  excited.  "Why,  what  a  scoundrel 
I'd  be  if  I  threw  him  over!  I'd  rather  use  the 
40 


The  Colossus 

pick  and  shovel.  Tell  me  anything  else,  and  I'll 
do  it." 

Loder  felt  as  if  he  could  explode.  But  he 
often  felt  that  way,  and  did  not  do  it.  And 
when  he  attempted  to  move  Romney  he  knew 
it  was  a  forlorn  hope.  For  on  this  point  the 
big  contractor  was  a  simple  obstinate  child. 

"By  God!"  said  Loder,  "I  wish  you  felt  tow- 
ard me  as  you  do  toward  Oppenheimer." 

And  that  was  the  most  persuasive  thing  he 
said  that  night.    He  knew  it. 

But  he  had  to  carry  Oppenheimer  through  the 
drift. 


CHAPTER  IV 

It  was  characteristic  of  Loder  that  after  his 
failure  with  Romney  of  the  obstinate  principles, 
for  a  day  or  two  he  was  in  a  peculiar  lethargy. 
Perhaps  the  annoyance  touched  up  his  liver. 
At  any  rate,  for  forty-eight  hours  he  shrank  into 
himself,  and  sat  on  the  veranda  with  his  head  be- 
tween his  shoulders.  One  day  he  even  missed 
his  morning  ride.  He  looked  at  Gertrude  with 
such  a  want  of  speculation  in  his  eye  that  her 
"Good-morning"  died  upon  her  lips.  She  found 
Hinton,  and  screwed  out  of  him  that  Romney 
and  the  Chief  were  not  entirely  at  one  upon  a 
certain  subject. 

"Is  it  about  Mr.  Romney's  German  partner?" 
asked  Gertrude,  spurred  by  a  sudden  intuition. 

And  Hinton  nodded. 

"To  some  extent." 

She  asked  searching  questions,  and  Hinton 
would  not  answer. 

"Well,  I  shall  find  out,"  she  declared,  "and  I 
shan't  like  you  any  more.  If  I  were  to  talk  with 
Mr.  Matthews " 

"He  doesn't  like  you,"  cried  Emory.  "And 
42 


The  Colossus 

he's  such  a  conceited  Httle  beast.  He  thinks  he's 
just  the  Grand-Duke  of  Mackackiack  because  he 
does  a  Uttle  journaHsm." 

"The  Grand-Duke  of  what?"  asked  Gertrude, 
with  much  interest. 

"It's  a  sailor's  word,"  answered  Hinton;  "I 
picked  it  up  from  my  cousin.  It's  their  way  of 
saying  a  man  has  swelled  head.  When  he  talks 
of  Loder  he's  just  as  likely  as  not  to  say  'We.' " 

"Poor  little  dear!"  cried  Gertrude.  "I  don't 
mind  telling  you  in  confidence  that  I  loathe  him." 

And  round  the  corner  she  found  the  man  she 
loathed.  He  was  sitting  scribbling  on  a  re- 
porter's pad. 

"My  dear  Mr.  Matthews,  you  are  always  writ- 
ing.    But  I  suppose  it  has  to  be  done." 

"Yes,  it's  important,"  cried  Matthews,  swell- 
ing visibly.  "We  are  obliged  to  give  the  English 
papers  something  to  go  on  with.  It  stirs  them 
up." 

"And  then  the  people  stir  up  the  Grand-Duke 
of  Mackackiack,"  said  Gertrude. 

"Who's  he?"  asked  the  important  journalist 
and  watch-dog  with  intense  surprise. 

"I    mean    the    Duke    of    Enfield,    of    course. 
Mackackiack  is  something  in  a  foreign  language, 
and  means  having  swelled  head;    and    there's 
nothing  more  detestable." 
43 


The  Colossus 

"Nothing,"  affirmed  Wilberforce.  "Hinton's 
got  it.  He's  only  Loder's  secretary,  but  I  believe 
him  capable  of  saying  'We'  when  he  refers  to  the 
Chief." 

Gertrude  nodded. 

"Do  you  really  think  he  would  go  so  far?" 

"I  don't  doubt  it,"  cried  Matthews  fervently. 

"It  is  sad,  isn't  it?  But,  Mr.  Matthews,  what 
I  want  specially  to  know  now — and  as  I  really 
daren't  ask  the  Chief,  and  as  I  wouldn't  think  of 
asking  Mr.  Hinton,  I  must  ask  you — is,  who  it  is 
exactly  that  is  stopping  the  way  in  the  business 
you  (and  Mr.  Loder)  are  now  conducting?" 

Matthews  opened  his  mouth  and  shut  it  again, 
and  once  more  opened  it. 

"But  you  don't  know  what  the  business  is?" 
he  asked  suspiciously. 

"Not  in  the  least ;  but  I  do  know  there's  some 
business,  and  I  know  some  one  is  the  obstacle. 
Now,  who  is  the  obstacle?    Do  tell  me." 

Wilberforce  considered  the  question  for  some 
half-minute. 

"She  doesn't  know  anything  about  it,  so  it 
doesn't  matter,"  he  thought.  "And  I'm  glad  to 
see  she's  not  been  taken  in  by  that  damned  insinu- 
ating Hinton.  Well,  Miss  Broughton,  at  present 
the  obstacle  is  Zohrab  Bey.  But  mind  you  don't 
repeat  this." 

44 


The  Colossus 

"I  won't,"  said  Gertrude ;  "but  it's  interesting. 
I've  seen  him  twice,  and  once  talked  with  him. 
Suppose  you  send  me  as  your  ambassador.  You 
have  no  idea  how  I  can  persuade  people." 

And  he  hadn't.  Yet  he  earnestly  advised  her 
to  leave  Zohrab  Bey  alone. 

"I  don't  consider  him  a  man  that — that  you, 
for  instance,  should  have  anything  to  do  with. 
His  character  is  not,  for  instance,  what  one  could 
recommend." 

"Ah,  I  see,"  said  Gertrude  gravely.  And  hav- 
ing thanked  him,  she  marched  off  to  Lady  Bon- 
tine's  rooms. 

"Loder's  as  cross  as  two  sticks,  as  a  pair  of 
scissors,  and  he  looked  at  me  with  a  chilly  eye 
which  covered  me  with  mental  hoar-frost,"  de- 
clared Gertrude,  sitting  down  at  the  table  at 
which  Tiny  was  mending  some  lace. 

"What's  the  matter  with  him  ?" 

Gertrude  grunted  in  a  most  unladylike  manner. 

"It's  the  fell  deed  of  Gargantua." 

"Who's  he?  I  never  heard  of  him,"  asked 
Tiny,  holding  her  lace  to  the  light.  "Don't  you 
think  this  lace,  Gertrude " 

"Gargantua  was  a  creation  of  Rabelais." 

"And  who  was  Rabelais?"  murmured  Tiny 
mechanically. 

"He  was  the  man  who  created  Gargantua," 

45 


The  Colossus 

replied  Gertrude,  and  then  added  hastily:  "And 
I  call  Romney  Gargantua  or  Rabelais,  because 
he's  huge  and  funny,  and  eats  herds  of  steaks 
and  chops,  and  laughs  like  a  humorous  elephant. 
But  now  I  hate  him,  because  he's  worried  Eus- 
tace Loder." 

Tiny  dropped  her  lace. 

"I  can't  understand  your  infatuation,  Ger- 
trude," she  sighed.  "And,  besides,  you've  let 
every  one  see  it." 

Gertrude  flushed  a  little. 

"Well,  it's  not  like  just  an  ordinary  woman 
wanting  to  marry  an  ordinary  man.  No  one 
can  say  I  want  to  marry  him  just  for  the  sake  of 
being  married.  To  marry  Loder  is  an  ambition, 
and  it's  my  ambition." 

"But  surely  you  like  him,  Gertrude?" 

"I'm  not  sure  I  do,"  said  Gertrude,  "and  some- 
times I  don't — I  know  that.  Just  now  I  hated 
him.  And  I  can't  get  a  word  alone  with  him — 
never  a  word." 

Tiny  looked  at  her  for  a  minute,  and  half 
opened  her  lips. 

"You  needn't  tell  me,"  said  Gertrude  irritably. 

For  both  knew  that  the  reason  she  got  no 
chance  of  talk  with  Mr.  Loder  was  Loder's  or- 
ders that  she  was  to  be  given  no  chance. 

Tiny  took  up  her  lace  again. 
46 


The  Colossus 

"Well,  my  dear,  I  know  you  sometimes  think 
I'm  just  a  fool,  but  Mr,  Loder  has  no  notion  of 
being  fond  of  any  one.  He's  fond  of  animals.  If 
one  could  imagine  the  veldt  being  alive  and  con- 
scious, it  might  feel  for  a  Koodoo  as  Eustace 
Loder  does.  And  he  uses  human  beings  for  his 
own  purposes,  and  he  never  gets  any  further  in 
affection  for  any  of  them  than  a  hunter  gets  for 
a  gun,  or  a  man  for  a  golf-club  which  suits  him 
and  doesn't  break.  Any  one  who  does  anything 
for  him  and  does  it  well  comes  in  that  way.  But 
though  he'll  take  fancies  about  men  whom  he  im- 
agines may  turn  out  useful,  he  doesn't  have 
fancies  like  that  about  women.  He's  too  busy, 
and,  besides,  in  the  things  that  interest  him  we 
are  mostly  fools." 

"Well,"  said  Gertrude  half  sullenly,  "I  shall 
have  to  do  something  for  him.  For  I  know  you 
are  right.  And  I  never  thought  you  a  fool.  You 
just  sit  and  look  pathetic  and  talk  lace  and  frills, 
but  you're  really  a  blue-eyed  wise  thing,  and  cut 
them  all  up  while  you  crochet." 

"George  tells  me  a  lot,"  said  Tiny.  "And  some- 
times when  he's  trying  to  think  out  Mr.  Loder, 
he  says  he  feels  like  a  man  who  is  trying  to  open 
a  safe  with  a  toothpick." 

"And  George  is  clever  as  they  are  made," 
groaned  Gertrude. 

47 


The  Colossus 

George's  wife  looked  up. 

"And  he's  always  kind  and  gentle,  too,"  she 
murmured,  "and  never  like " 

"Like  a  ghastly  glacier,"  said  Gertrude,  "or 
like  Browning's  description  of  an  iceberg — 

"  'Swimming  full  upon  the  ship  it  founders, 
Hungry  with  huge  teeth  of  splintered  crystal;' 

or  if  not  a  ship,  the  Transvaal,  or  France,  or 
Egypt." 

"My  dear,"  said  Tiny,  "he  does  his  work." 

Gertrude  kissed  her. 

"Darling,  don't  I  know  it?  And  when  George 
comes  I  want  you  to  ask  him  how  it  is  that  Zoh- 
rab  Bey  is  the  pivot  on  which  the  intrigue  turns." 

"Zohrab!"  mused  Tiny.  "Well,  just  remind 
me,  and  I  will,  if  George  says  I  can." 

"My  darling,  'ditto  to  George,'  how  I  love  you ! 
But  if  there  were  more  originality  and  less  'ditto- 
ness,'  so  to  speak  it,  about  women,  Mr.  Loder 
wouldn't  be  such  an  Aconcagua  to  climb." 

And  then  having  reached  a  point  of  mental 
fatigue  which  needed  relaxation,  she  talked  lace 
with  Tiny  till  lunch-time.  At  that  meal  Mr. 
Loder  absolutely  never  opened  his  mouth  except 
to  put  something  in  it.  Though  his  liver  was  all 
right  again,  he  had  an  interview  on  with  the  alien 
and  superimposed  ruler  of  Egypt,  the  English 
48 


The  Colossus 

Centurion  of  honorary  rank  who  said  to  People 
in  the  Highest  Places,  "Do  this  or  that!"  And 
the  world  remarked  with  some  wonder  that  "this" 
or  "that"  was  mostly  done  in  the  end  if  not  at 
once. 

Romney,  of  whom  the  Chief  was  temporarily 
oblivious,  was  the  only  really  living  thing  at  the 
table.  He  talked  and  joked  and  laughed  like 
subterranean  thunder,  and  no  one  beholding  him 
failed  to  like  him.  After  lunch  Mr.  Loder  left 
him  entertaining  the  ladies  under  the  veranda, 
and  drove  into  Cairo  by  himself. 

There  are  two  ways  of  thinking,  each  charac- 
teristic of  two  classes  of  intellect.  One  class  di- 
rect their  minds ;  the  other  let  their  minds  direct 
them.  Eustace  Loder  belonged  to  the  latter  or- 
der; he  allowed  his  mind  to  work  out  its  prob- 
lems, and  in  the  hours  of  his  closest-looking 
thinking,  if  one  could  have  followed  his  brain 
working,  no  man  but  would  have  been  astounded 
at  the  apparent  yeasty  chaos,  which  yet  led  to 
such  prompt  speech  and  action  when  speech  or 
action  was  needed.  He  had  learnt  to  trust  him- 
self, and  though  this  trust  leads  not  infrequently 
to  disaster  when  it  becomes  overweening,  so  far 
Eustace  Loder  had  not  exceeded  the  mandate  of 
those  tendencies  which  found  their  outlet  in  him. 
That  his  thought  was  chaotic  and  uncrystallised 
4  49 


The  Colossus 

made  him  the  half-unconscious  representative  of 
a  plastic  uncrystallised  race.  If  he  ever  failed 
greatly,  it  would  be  because  he  had  not  changed 
with  a  changing  environment  of  the  time.  The 
big  individual  is  the  race  in  miniature,  but  the  in- 
dividual's life  is  proportionately  short;  old  age, 
which  is  rigidity,  takes  him  out  of  the  still  un- 
changed youth  of  the  race  he  essays  to  lead.  In 
settled  fixed  societies  old  men  may  yet  rule ;  but 
when  social  organisms  become  fluent  young  men 
rise  to  the  top. 

Eustace  Loder  had  considered  such  problems  a 
thousand  times,  but  had  come  to  no  such  definite 
conclusion.  That  he  rarely  came  to  definite  con- 
clusions was  his  safeguard.  The  situation  in 
which  he  now  found  himself  was  more  than  suffi- 
ciently complex,  but,  unlike  most  men,  he  by  no 
means  settled  how  the  solution  was  to  be  found. 
The  more  tangled  the  problem,  the  less  wise  was 
it  to  insist  that  "here"  or  "there"  lay  the  proper 
path  in  the  maze.  He  was  an  opportunist,  and 
when  he  ceased  to  be  one,  through  pressure  ex- 
erted on  him  by  his  more  definite  thinking  allies, 
he  came  nearest  to  failure.  But  a  safe  instinct 
led  him  to  use  younger  men  than  himself. 

He  found  Sir  Ellis  Bullen  at  his  office.  Bul- 
len  was  a  keen  and  polished  diplomatist,  but  could 
be  as  brutal  as  was  necessary  at  times  in  the  curi- 
50 


The  Colossus 

ously  anomalous  position  which  he  occupied.  He 
was  a  regal  Man  in  Possession.  An  adequate 
epitaph  for  him  would  have  been,  "He  stood  no 
nonsense,"  in  three  languages — English,  French 
and  Arabic.  There  were  few  motives  of  Loder's 
with  which  he  was  not  in  sympathy.  But  his 
duty  sometimes  compelled  him  to  refuse  open 
backing.  He  held  an  official  position,  while 
Loder  was  the  Free  Lance  of  Empire. 

To  all  conversations  there  are  introductions  of 
varying  kinds.  After  shaking  hands,  Loder  sat 
down  and  chewed  the  end  of  a  yet  unlighted 
cigar.  Bullen  handed  him  some  matches,  and 
Loder  struck  one.  He  allowed  it  to  go  out,  and 
grunted  something  which  sounded  like  "damn." 
At  last  he  got  a  light. 

"So  I've  come  back,  Bullen." 

There  was  for  an  instant  a  curious  childlike- 
ness  about  him.  It  was  as  though  the  Cock  of 
the  School  found  himself  compelled  to  bring  a 
problem  in  Conic  Sections  to  the  latest  mathe- 
matical master  who  was  not  much  older  than 
himself. 

"Then  you  can't  get  Oppenheimer  out  ?"  asked 
Bullen. 

Loder  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"It's  that  Romney — damned  pity  I  let  him  have 
the  contracts !  He's  heavy  to  handle,  and  set  on 
51 


The  Colossus 

his  partner,"  he  growled.  "He's  a  fanatic,  and 
how  to  deal  with  'em  except  a  fire  in  Smithfield? 
There  are  times  I  can  envy  the  old  boys,  who 
could  at  any  rate  walk  straight;  and  so  it's  this 
way — can't  move  Germany,  can't  move  France, 
and  you  won't  shake  Egypt.  And  what  about 
Zohrab?     That's  what  I  want  to  know." 

He  went  on  raggedly,  evidently  thinking  to 
himself,  while  Bullen  stared  at  him  as  if  he  were 
a  Chinese  puzzle.  Then  suddenly  Loder  looked 
up  with  a  bright  eye. 

"I  want  Zohrab  kicked  out,"  he  said  keenly 
and  coldly. 

"Why?"  asked  Bullen. 

"Cazoule  has  bought  him." 

"Do  you  know  it?" 

Bullen  looked  alert  enough  as  he  spoke,  but 
Loder  was  back  again  in  audible  thinking. 

"The  Khedive  is  a  reed,  but  we  don't  see  him 
wobble  here.  He's  stiffened  by  some  one.  I 
can't  buy  Zohrab.  Then,  he's  sold  already. 
Can't  you  see  it? — Cazoule  works  through  him. 
No  one  else." 

"Then,  you've  no  evidence,"  said  Bullen. 

"Evidence  would  be  damnation,"  said  Loder, 
"and  I  only  want  you  to  kick  him  out.  Resigna- 
tion will  do." 

Bullen  picked  up  a  paper-cutter. 
52 


The  Colossus 

''I've  put  out  one  or  two,"  he  said  after  a 
moment's  thought;  "but  I'm  trying  to  drive  this 
team  without  too  much  friction.  And  Zohrab  be- 
longs to  the  Household,  which  I  have  no  concern 
with.  And  the  truth  is  that  they  have  a  very 
good  case  for  refusing  to  come  down.  Europe 
would  say  it  was  a  proof  of  our  entire  selfishness 
in  being  here." 

"Let  them  say,"  interjected  Loder. 

"But  our  hold  on  Europe  is  Egypt's  financial 
soundness.  The  railroad  to  Wady  Haifa  and 
Khartoum  is  a  good  asset ;  why  should  they  turn 
it  over  to  an  English  company?  And  then  as  to 
the  issue  of  bonds  on  their  guarantee  for  con- 
tinuing it  down  to  the  lakes.  It  isn't  every  one 
who  sees  eye  to  eye  with  you,  Loder,  as  to  the 
business  success  of  this  through  road.  A  guar- 
antee and  a  failure  might  end  in  a  kind  of  Egyp- 
tian Panama ;  and  the  very  appearance  of  it  would 
shake  the  markets.  And  even  Powell,  who  has 
considerable  financial  ability,  owned  rather  re- 
luctantly to  me  that,  from  Egypt's  point  of  view 
alone,  it  was  a  very  risky  thing." 

"Oh,  Powell  said  that?"  asked  Loder. 

He  dropped  into  a  moment's  abstraction,  and 
for  the  first  time  picked  up  this  James  Powell  as 
a  pawn  in  the  game. 

"And,  taking  a  wide  view,  at  present  I  agree 
53 


The  Colossus 

with  him,"  said  BuUen.  "I  mean  that,  as  things 
are  at  home  and  in  Europe,  it's  policy  not  to 
bring  Egypt  into  actual  open  fighting  politics  by 
our  doing  any  great  squeeze.  You  ought  to  edu- 
cate opinion  more  in  England." 

"You  mean " 

"I  mean  the  Duke  of  Enfield." 

Bullen  fiddled  a  bit  with  his  paper-knife,  but 
finally  dropped  it  and  wheeled  round,  facing 
Loder. 

"I  know  you  are  a  Conservative,"  he  said 
thoughtfully — "in  some  things  a  rather  ultra  one. 
That  comes  from  always  being  on  the  outside 
rim  of  the  Empire.  There  old  methods  last  long- 
est. The  spot  where  the  new  problems — the  new 
social  problems — rise  is  at  home.  Radicalism  is 
the  result  of  squeeze.  But  once  or  twice  I've 
noticed  you  talk  and  think  as  if  the  Duke  were  a 
Conservative.  Now,  you  can't  make  a  greater 
mistake.  There  is  at  this  moment  no  more  truly 
and  naturally  born  democrat  than  the  Duke  of 
Enfield.  Members  of  a  social  democratic  Club 
are  old  aristocratic  Tories  compared  with  him. 
He  sits  subHme,  and  waits  to  be  pushed ;  he  will 
not  move  till  the  country  moves  him.  Get  the 
country  to  sound  the  gamut  of  war,  and  Enfield 
will  again  pick  up  each  note  like  a  faithful  tun- 
ing-fork. He  lives  in  and  for  and  by  the  people, 
54 


The  Colossus 

and  cares  little  for  anything  else.  And  I  believe 
he  knows  it.  That's  why  I  say  he  is  the  one 
true  democrat  alive.  He  recognises  his  Master. 
And  the  moral  of  this  is  that  when  England  de- 
clares vigorously  for  a  Protectorate  here,  we  shall 
have  it.  When  the  people  demand  that  their 
credit  shall  be  placed  at  your  disposal,  you  will 
have  a  blank  check  given  you.  But  till  they 
say  it  you  may  pull  and  push,  but  Enfield  will 
stay  where  they  put  him  last.  That's  my  real 
opinion  for  your  private  use." 

Loder  smoked  in  silence  for  a  minute  or  two. 

"Well,  I  suppose  there's  a  good  deal  in  what 
you  say ;  but  it  seems  to  me  a  pretty  ignominious 
position,  and  as  this  affair  of  ours  has  to  come  off 
now,  we  shall  have  to  do  it  without  getting  Tra- 
falgar Square  full  of  Enfield's  jumping  powder." 

"But  I'll  back  you  as  far  as  ever  I  can  move 
for  my  own  chains,"  said  Bullen. 

"You  think,  then,  that  at  present  there  is  no 
chance  of  getting  an  English  contingent  guaran- 
tee to  support  the  Egyptian  contingent  guar- 
antee ?"  asked  Loder. 

Bullen  shook  his  head. 

"Did  you  ever  know  a  nation  shout  for  con- 
tingent contingencies  ?" 

Loder  smiled  grimly,  and  finally  laughed  his 
nervous  laugh. 

55 


The  Colossus 

"Then,  it's  all  on  me,  as  usual." 

"Do  you  know  where  your  strengfth  lies, 
Loder?"  asked  Bullen  curiously. 

"No ;  except  that  I  want  what  I  want." 

"Enfield  represents  England  of  to-day,  and 
knows  it;  you  represent  England  of  to-morrow, 
and  don't  know  it.  You  are  both  democrats,  but 
a  democrat  who  is  'previous,'  as  the  Americans 
say,  often  mistakes  himself,  and  is  mistaken,  for 
an  autocrat.     But  you  will  get  through." 

"I  mean  to,"  said  Loder. 


CHAPTER  V 

Though  Cairo  was  flooded  with  visitors  and 
the  hotels  were  full,  the  winter  season  of  gayety 
brought  little  pleasure  to  any  of  Loder's  imme- 
diate circle.  He  dominated  them  all,  and  was  a 
chilly  tramontana.  They  felt  like  a  family  when 
the  head  of  it  sulks.  Even  Romney's  roar  of 
laughter  was  heard  less  frequently  than  usual  in 
the  marble  corridors  and  under  the  veranda  by 
the  Nile  as  the  days  passed  and  nothing  mitigated 
the  aspect  of  the  god  he  did  not  wholly  worship. 

Gertrude  showed  signs  of  nervous  worry ;  and 
she  worried  Tiny,  who  daily  wrote  letters  to  her 
husband  begging  him  to  come  out  soon  and  help 
to  settle  things,  or  else  to  insist  on  taking  her  and 
Gertrude  away.  "For  I  can't  control  Gertrude, 
and  I'm  getting  nervous  about  her.  She  is  just 
in  the  state  to  do  something  foolish." 

Hinton,  who  was  more  and  more  inclined  each 
day  to  let  himself  go  and  fall  in  love  with  Ger- 
trude in  spite  of  her  bent  toward  his  Chief,  had 
a  pretty  bad  time  as  well.  Loder  had  none  of 
those  hours  now  which  sometimes  made  him  so 
pleasant  a  companion  to  any  intelligent  and  well- 
57 


The  Colossus 

read  man.  The  hours  before  dinner  were  de- 
voted to  the  grim  grind  of  his  schemes  and  plans. 
He  did  not  say,  as  in  better  times  he  often  did : 

"Now,  Livy  says  so-and-so  about  What's-his- 
name.  What  do  you  think  is  the  real  meaning 
of  that  passage,  Hinton  ?" 

Livy  and  Tacitus  were  alike  of  no  interest  to 
him;  his  whole  attention  was  fixed  on  that  part 
of  the  engine  where  the  hitch  was,  or  appeared 
to  be.  Was  Zohrab  bought?  Or,  if  not  Zohrab, 
was  any  one  else  purchased  and  paid  for?  Why 
would  not  the  Khedivial  wheels  turn  round? 
Who  held  the  handle  of  the  brake  ? 

He  was  the  centre  of  the  little  universe.  When 
he  shone  the  world  was  gay.  When  he  hid  him- 
self color  wept  out  of  their  landscape.  At  those 
hours  no  tourist  was  bold  enough  to  come  near 
him.  But  they  peered  round  corners  and  stood 
in  rows  as  he  went  by.  They  took  oflf  their  hats 
sometimes,  and  if  he  deigned  to  notice  them  they 
were  happy.  Cairene  Frenchmen  brought  Pa- 
risians to  see  him ;  he  was  the  Ogre,  the  Juggler, 
the  Sword-swallower,  the  Drinker  of  the  Nile, 
the  Expeller  of  Marchand. 

"He's  the  incarnation  of  the  Brutal  Enghsh," 
said  the  Frenchmen.  "He  is  le  pieiivre  of  the 
political  sea." 

And  from  the  French  view  of  the  official  uni- 
58 


The  Colossus 

verse,  they  wondered  how  a  man  with  no  office 
or  ministry  could  have  so  much  power. 

"Decidement,  mon  ami,  nous  ne  comprenons 
pas  encore  ces  Anglais,"  they  said  to  each  other 
with  a  shrug  of  their  shoulders.  "II  ressemble 
un  peu  ce  diable  de  Lowry.  Mon  Dieu!  quel 
nom!  Mais  le  dernier  mot  n'est  encore  pas 
dit !" 

And  there  sat  the  Devil  Fish,  as  they  called 
him,  and  ground  out  theory  after  theory.  In  a 
day  he  went  through  a  thousand  solutions,  and 
considered  what  was  to  be  done,  if,  in  the  end, 
the  Egyptian  Government  failed  him.  He  went 
back  again  and  again  to  England,  and  at  last 
called  to  Hinton. 

"Write  to  Berwick,"  he  said,  with  a  more 
cheerful  voice,  "and  get  him  to  turn  on  the  tap. 
Tell  the  beggars  with  votes  what  this  all  means. 
If  I've  got  to  have  public  opinion,  why,  I  must 
have  it.     Tell  him  that,  Hinton." 

And  Hinton  knew  better  than  to  press  for 
more  details.  Loder  left  his  subordinates  and 
his  co-workers  plenty  of  scope  and  responsibility, 
and  he  never  wrote  letters.  Or,  if  he  did,  they 
were  short  and  non-committal,  and  merely  sug- 
gestive. 

"British  credit  for  British  ends,"  said  Loder 
casually,  as  Hinton  scribbled  out  a  letter  to  Ber- 
59 


The  Colossus 

wick.  "That  cHnches  everything."  And  he 
turned  his  thoughts  to  Powell.  "No,  I'll  not  see 
him  myself,"  he  said.  "I'll  wait  till  Bontine 
comes.  Hinton,  cable  Sir  George  to  come  as 
soon  as  he  can  get  through  at  home."  And  he 
broke  right  through  the  clouds.  Wilberforce 
Matthews,  who  had  been  as  melancholy  as  a  lap- 
dog  repulsed,  cleared  up  in  a  minute.  "Matthews, 
go  and  ask  Lady  Bontine  and  Miss  Broughton 
if  they  would  like  to  drive  on  the  Gizereh,"  said 
the  Chief ;  "and  you  will,  of  course,  come  too." 

For  the  last  few  weeks  such  a  sunlit  moment 
in  Loder's  mind  had  been  of  rare  occurrence,  and 
his  whole  world  rejoiced  with  him  in  fear  and 
trembling. 

He  was  very  friendly  with  Lady  Bontine,  and 
though  more  reserved  with  Gertrude,  she  did  not 
mind  the  curious  shy  stiffness  with  which  he 
sometimes  addressed  her.  Such  armor  was  bet- 
ter far  than  indifference.  If  she  shut  her  eyes, 
she  might  have  imagined  herself  in  the  company 
of  a  very  diffident  admirer. 

"It  is  glorious  here,"  said  Gertrude,  "but  there 
are  other  pyramids  than  these,  Mr.  Loder,  at  our 
end  of  Africa." 

"Eh?"  said  Loder. 

"Don't  you  remember  one  mighty  pyramid 
looking  on  Cape  Town  when  Table  Mountain  is 
60 


The  Colossus 

well  covered?  The  mist  often  comes  down  just 
far  enough  to  hide  it  all  but  one  great  buttress 
shaped  like  a  pyramid.     I've  seen  it  often." 

Loder  nodded. 

"Yes,  I  remember  to  have  noticed  it." 

He  dropped  into  reverie,  and  in  thought  drove 
rapidly  down  the  road  from  Cape  Town  to  Wyn- 
berg.  At  this  season,  the  hot  summer  of  the 
South,  the  road  would  seem  redolent  of  the  East, 
of  a  silent  way  in  Ceylon.  The  red  trunks  of 
trees,  and  their  heavy  flat  foliage  overhead;  the 
one-storied  houses  like  bungalows,  and  the  col- 
ored folk,  made  that  rich  and  genial  scene  half 
tropical.  Side-avenues  of  pine  resembled  strange- 
ly ranked  and  serried  scrub.  And  far,  far  above 
lay  the  huge  ramparts  of  Table  Mountain.  How 
often  had  he  lain  and  Hstened  to  the  mighty  or- 
gan of  the  windy  Devil's  Peak ! 

"Cape  Town  is  the  most  beautiful  place  in  the 
world,"  said  Loder,  with  a  curious  blink  of  the 
eye,  which  was  almost  as  near  as  he  ever  got  to 
showing  any  of  the  softer  emotions.  "There's  no 
city  has  such  a  situation." 

"Or  such  suburbs,"  cried  Gertrude  softly. 

"There's  the  Kloof  Road,"  said  Loder,  staring 

out  across  the  Nile,  and  evidently  seeing  neither 

river  nor  any  of  the  throng  of  carriages  which 

fills  Cairo's  afternoon  driving-ground.     "And  the 

6i 


The  Colossus 

quiet  up  there,  and  the  woods,  and  below  one  the 
town  looking  Uke — like " 

"Pompeii,"  suggested  Gertrude. 

And  Loder  nodded. 

Though  he  could  rarely  express  himself  about 
such  things,  his  mind  was  peculiarly  susceptible 
of  some  orders  of  beauty.  Many  a  time  on  the 
northern  Karoo  and  the  great  veldt  farther  in  the 
north,  his  companions  with  surprise  had  seen 
him  draw  bridle,  and  sit  like  a  carven  man,  star- 
ing into  the  western  sky  at  sunset.  The  red 
wonder  of  the  heavenly  rack  sank  deeply  into  him, 
and,  like  the  very  Boer,  who  was  wholly  yet  un- 
consciously subdued  to  the  mystery  of  the  veldt, 
he  understood  the  infinitely  cold  and  moving 
charm  of  its  vast  panorama  at  the  earliest  hour 
of  the  coming  day. 

He  was  a  man  with  a  mental  geography ;  he 
was  yet  uncharted ;  there  were  unknown  seas  in 
him ;  he  did  not  even  know  himself.  And  to  some 
human  beings  with  ambition  he  offered  the  very 
opportunities  of  Africa.  He  was  big  as  a  conti- 
nent ;  cruel  as  a  sea ;  tender  as  the  olive  and  ame- 
thystine bands  of  color  that  herald  dawn.  He 
was  as  cunning  as  the  great  descendant  of  the 
great  Msiligazi,  and  as  childlike  as  the  bands  of 
wanderers  who  went  forever  north.  They 
moved  now,  to  meet  him ! 

62 


The  Colossus 

And  as  he  came  up  now  out  of  the  southern 
hemisphere,  he  caught  Gertrude's  eye  upon  him; 
for  she  understood  a  Httle  of  his  underworld.  He 
closed  his  heart  like  a  night-flower,  for  above  all 
things  he  abhorred  such  intrusion. 

Let  the  world  judge  by  the  outer  man. 

"I  cabled  to  your  husband,  Lady  Bontine,  to 
try  and  hurry  him  up,"  said  Loder  hastily,  as  he 
averted  his  eye  from  Gertrude. 

''Thank  you,  Mr.  Loder,"  said  Tiny,  who  felt 
quite  assured  that  her  man  would  come  when  he 
could. 

"There's  a  lot  to  do — a  lot  to  do,"  said  Loder. 
And  he  never  opened  his  mouth  again  till  they 
came  again  to  the  hotel.  The  next  day  he  was 
back  in  himself.  But  he  sent  for  Romney,  and 
having  made  up  his  mind  that  Oppenheimer  must 
be  swallowed,  he  discussed  Zohrab  Bey  and 
Powell  with  the  Rabelais  of  Railways. 


CHAPTER  VI 

Sir  George  Bontine  did  not  get  Loder's 
cable,  nor  many  of  his  wife's  letters,  for  the  mat- 
ter of  that,  till  weeks  after  they  were  out  of  date. 
He  was,  indeed,  within  two  days  of  Alexandria 
when  the  cable  was  sent,  and  he  turned  up  at 
Cairo  on  the  fourth  day  after,  much  to  every- 
one's astonishment,  but  that  of  his  wife  and  Eus- 
tace Loder.  His  wife  knew  him  and  was  not 
surprised.  Loder  was  astonished  at  nothing. 
If  he  sometimes  showed  surprise,  it  was  at  those 
odd  glimpses  of  common-sense  occasionally  vis- 
ible in  fools. 

Bontine,  who  with  Romney  had  never  been 
in  Loder's  pocket,  was  nevertheless  a  favorite  of 
his.  They  esteemed  each  other,  as  men  who  have 
fought  side  by  side,  and  have  not  infrequently 
fought  a  draw  with  each  other.  If  Loder  had  the 
unexpected  qualities  of  the  genius  who  does  what 
he  must,  Bontine  had  the  gifts  of  the  rare  man 
of  talent  who  can  at  any  time  succeed  in  doing 
anything  well.  He  made  money,  until  money 
made  itself.  He  hatched  his  eggs  under  an  in- 
,  cubator,  and  then  turned  the  golden  geese  out  to 
64 


The  Colossus 

pasture.  When  he  had  nothing  better  to  do  he 
made  money  still ;  in  an  idle  political  time  he 
could  speculate  in  that  almost  riskless  way 
known  only  to  millionaires.  But  his  ambition 
was  not  making  money.  He  had  made  it.  In 
his  heart  he  sometimes  fancied  he  had  not  suc- 
ceeded. For  a  passion  for  science  often  gnawed 
at  him.  Chemistry  was  even  yet  his  hobby ;  be- 
fore he  left  England  for  the  Cape,  to  take  up  the 
position  which  he  afterward  left  for  Finance  and 
Politics  he  had  written  a  lasting  and  sound  text- 
book on  the  "Carbon  Compounds."  He  had  also 
made  researches  in  Earth  Magnetic  Currents, 
and  had  published  a  tractate  on  the  Deviation  of 
the  Compass,  which  was  especially  suggestive  to 
naval  officers,  as  it  contained  a  very  luminous 
chapter  on  the  alterations  in  deviation  occurring 
after  fire  concussion  and  the  grounding  of  battle- 
ships. 

But,  if  Bontine  regretted  the  successes  he 
might  have  obtained,  few  people  knew.  Few, 
indeed,  but  his  wife,  ever  saw  him  touched  with 
melancholy.  He  seemed  to  the  world  jovial  and 
eager,  and  certainly  he  was  forever  kindly.  He 
never  made  an  enemy  if  he  could  help  it.  He 
took  care  to  make  friends  even  of  the  inconsid- 
erable. He  was  not  seldom  the  only  connecting- 
link  between  the  contrary  and  contrasted  parties 
5  65 


The  Colossus 

in  the  Cape  poHtical  warfare.  He  was  equally 
welcome  in  all  the  houses  of  the  warring  Capu- 
lets  and  Montagues  who  dweU  under  windy 
Table  Mountain. 

Though  without  any  air  of  positive  distinction 
he  possessed  the  gift  of  persuasion  in  an  uncom- 
mon measure.  Loder  had  it,  doubtless,  in  equal 
degree,  but  as  he  could  inspire  hatred  as  well, 
his  enemies  would  not  come  in  to  be  persuaded. 
Bontine  had  his  foes,  but  could  use  his  gifts  upon 
his  opponents  as  well  as  his  friends.  There  was 
a  convincing  good-nature  in  his  tone  which  ap- 
pealed to  all,  even  to  those  who  said  he  was  a 
poHtical  weathercock,  or  that  the  one  seat  he 
found  congenial  was  a  dividing  fence.  Some  of 
his  critics  said  his  air  of  heartiness  was  false.  If 
it  was  at  any  time  deliberately  indued,  by  now  it 
was  so  much  a  part  and  parcel  of  his  very  nature 
that  he  would  have  been  as  unhappy  without  it 
as  a  nude  Dyak  maiden  without  her  paint. 

They  said  he  was  unscrupulous.  But  this  was 
remarked  by  Cape  politicians. 

He  was  a  splendid  companion.  If  he  ap- 
peared, when  in  town,  not  to  pick  his  company, 
he  made  amends  for  this  in  his  home  at  quiet  old 
Dutch  Stellenbosch.  He  had  the  best  library  in 
Africa,  and,  like  Loder,  not  infrequently  read 
the  classics. 

66 


The  Colossus 

"So  you  didn't  get  my  letter,"  said  his  wife, 
"my  last  letter  about  Gertrude?" 

"No,"  said  George. 

"She's  nervous  and  irritable  and  flighty.  And 
really,  George,  she  is  quite  crazy  about  Mr. 
Loder." 

"And  it's  absolutely  hopeless?" 

"Who  knows  that  so  well  as  you,  George  ?" 

"You  never  know  what  Loder  will  do.  Hasn't 
he  plunged  us  all  in  wonder  before  now?  How- 
ever, I  don't  think  he'll  marry  till  he's  the  Em- 
peror of  Africa." 

Tiny  nodded. 

"Well,  so  I  want  you  to  hasten  things, 
George,  and  take  us  away.  She  sits  now  just 
like  Loder  himself  and  thinks  over  things.  I 
am  sure  I  wish  we  were  back  at  Stellen- 
bosch." 

"You  haven't  heard  how  things  go?"  asked 
her  husband. 

"No ;  but  judging  from  his  face,  they  seem 
just  at  a  deadlock :  I  don't  think  they  can  move 
the  Government  here." 

"We  must  push  behind,"  said  Bontine  cheer- 
fully. "Shall  Caesar's  star  be  clouded?  I'll  go 
down  and  see  him." 

He   found   Loder   smoking  one   black   cigar 
after  another  under  his  usual  favorite  veranda. 
67 


The  Colossus 

"Still  on  the  steep  ?"  asked  Bontine  cheerfully, 
as  he  drew  his  chair  alongside  the  Chief. 

"We'll  get  off  it  by-and-by,"  grunted  Loder. 
"Don't  some  of  us  remember  the  fine  old  flower 
of  the  Dutch  sitting  on  their  stoeps  where  Ad- 
derley  Street  is  now  ?    Well,  they  had  to  move." 

"What's  the  trouble?" 

Loder,  with  great  difficulty  and  many  pauses, 
as  if  he  were  chipping  out  a  relief  on  a  marble 
rock,  gave  Bontine  the  outline  of  the  situation, 
while  the  newcomer  nodded  at  intervals. 

"So  Oppenheimer  has  to  be  swallowed,  and 
Zohrab  has  to  be  moved,  bought  or  crushed? 
And  you  think  Powell  is  advising  him  ?" 

Loder  nodded. 

"You  have  seen  Zohrab  ?" 

Loder  nodded  again. 

"And  was  he  in  the  market?" 

"I  think  not,"  said  Loder.  "My  finger  is  on 
Powell." 

"Have  you  seen  him  ?" 

"I  want  you  to  see  him,"  said  Loder.  "Buy 
him,  persuade  him,  bulldoze  him.  I  give  you  a 
free  hand.  But  take  a  day  or  two  to  think  it  out, 
and  let  me  know  if  you  agree  where  the  hitch  is. 
What  a  damn  silly  thing  it  seems  that  we  can't 
have  a  Protectorate  and  cut  the  knot !" 

He  chewed  the  cud  for  a  minute. 
68 


The  Colossus 

"We  do  things  differently  down  South,"  he 
added.    "Did  you  see  Berwick?" 

Bontine  laughed, 

"Rather.  And  do  you  know  I  set  to  work  on 
him  to  persuade  him  to  take  one  line  with  regard 
to  Delagoa  Bay,  and  he  opened  his  batteries  on 
me  to  change  my  view.  And  after  an  hour's  talk 
the  result  was " 

"As  you  were,"  suggested  Loder. 

Bontine  burst  into  laughter. 

"Not  a  bit  of  it.  I  succeeded  in  changing  his 
opinion.  But  by  that  time  his  arguments  had 
convinced  me!" 

And  this  time  Loder  exploded. 

"Good  old  Berwick !"  he  shouted,  and,  thrust- 
ing both  hands  into  his  pockets,  he  lay  back  in 
his  chair  with  one  ankle  locked  round  the  other 
and  shook  from  head  to  foot. 

"And  what  happened  then?"  he  asked,  when 
his  merriment  had  subsided  to  a  mere  ripple  on 
his  vast  surface. 

"I  just  got  up  and  fled,"  said  Bontine.  "I 
really  think  that  was  the  reason  I  left  England  in 
such  a  hurry ;  for  I  didn't  know  whether  to  be 
pleased  or  hurt  about  it.  And  on  considering  it, 
it  seemed  a  bad  way  of  doing  business." 

"Well,  let's  hear  of  your  turning  Powell  inside 
out,"  said  the  Chief.  "I'd  be  glad  to  get  back 
69 


The  Colossus 

home.  I  shall  never  like  this  place  till  I  come 
up  to  it  by  rail." 

"No,"  nodded  Bontine.  "But,  by  the  way, 
who  will  instruct  me  as  to  the  habits  and  cus- 
toms, etc.,  of  this  Powell?" 

"Ask  Hinton,"  said  the  Chief;  "he  knows 
everything  about  everybody." 

And  after  lunch,  at  which  meal  Bontine  patted 
Gertrude  affectionately  on  the  shoulder  by  way 
of  a  distant  cousinly  greeting,  he  took  the  omnis- 
cient Emory  Hinton  under  the  palm  avenue,  and 
walked  him  to  and  fro. 

"Now  tell  me  about  Powell,"  said  he ;  "just  go 
ahead.    The  Chief  says  you  know  everything." 

The  Secretary  laughed. 

"I  know  everything  except  some  things.  But 
as  to  Powell !  He's  a  Welshman,  I  think.  He 
was  a  clerk  in  the  English  War  Office;  but  he 
had  some  influence  with  the  Adjutant- General  at 
home,  and,  besides,  he  imagined  he  was  touched 
with  consumption,  and  he  came  out  here  as  a 
kind  of  sub-civil  organiser  in  1886.  And  he  has 
an  undoubted  turn  for  finance,  besides  some 
power  of  organisation.  That  was  how  he  came 
more  directly  into  contact  with  Zohrab  Bey ;  for 
the  then  Financial  Adviser,  who  was  a  relative 
of  mine,  by  the  way,  and  called  Hinton,  was 
rather  slack,  and  relied  on  Powell,  and  worked 
70 


The  Colossus 

through  him  on  Zohrab,  who  was  on  very  good 
terms  with  the  late  Khedive.  So  he's  been  on  in- 
timate terms  with  Zohrab  ever  since.  And  now 
Zohrab,  who  is  Head  of  the  Household,  has 
more  influence  on  the  Khedive  than  any  one. 
You  know  how  things  go  in  Oriental  countries, 
Sir  George ;  it's  all  hocus-pocus,  and  the  inside 
Palace  is  forever  on  the  boil  with  intrigue,  and 
the  real  influence  is  held  by  men  who  on  the 
surface  should  have  none.  And  we  are  sure 
now  that  Powell  influences  Zohrab,  for  Sir  Ellis 
Bullen  told  the  Chief  so  the  other  day.  Or, 
if  he  did'nt  say  that,  he  owned  that  Powell 
thought  our  guarantee  scheme  very  risky  for 
Egypt." 

"Did  he  put  it  on  that  ground  alone?"  asked 
Bontine. 

Hinton  shook  his  head. 

"No,  rather  not ;  but  on  the  ground  of  the  pos- 
sible shaking  of  our  credit  with  Europe  if  any- 
thing we  urged  brought  on  a  financial  crisis." 

"Of  course,"  said  Sir  George ;  "and  I  dare  say 
he's  very  honest  and  straightforward,  and  all 
that." 

"On  the  surface,"  replied  Hinton  spitefully. 

"But  I  found  out  that  he  used  to  be  very  much 

with  Cazoule.    And  soon  after  we  started  on  this, 

he  gave  up  seeing  him.    Why  ?    For  Cazoule  is  a 

71 


The  Colossus 

man  you  can't  quarrel  with.  It  looks  like  cau- 
tion and  forestalling  of  criticism." 

"This  is  not  evidence,"  said  Sir  George.  "At 
least,  it  may  be  nothing." 

"By  the  method  of  elimination  we  come  down 
to  him,"  cried  Hinton  earnestly.  "We  know 
what  the  Khedive  is,  and  we  are  pretty  sure 
Zohrab  is  honest.  We  know  Cazoule  would  buy 
any  one.  If  he  couldn't  buy  Zohrab,  he  would 
buy  Powell.  And  up  to  the  time  that  Powell  was 
outwardly  friends  with  Cazoule,  we  thought,  as 
3'ou  know,  that  Zohrab  would  give  way.  Then 
suddenly  he  stiffened.  It's  only  this  last  four 
days  the  Chief  and  I  have  put  all  these  things  to- 
gether. But  he  thinks  what  I  think,  and  I  was 
advocatus  Diaboli.  That  is,  I  stood  up  for 
Powell." 

They  walked  to  and  fro  three  times  before 
Bontine  spoke. 

"H'm,"  he  said  at  last,  "and  have  you  con- 
sidered what  line  I  should  take  when  I  see  him? 
And  what  is  my  excuse  for  seeing  him  at  all? 
According  to  your  account,  he  doesn't  come  in 
officially." 

"No,"    said    Hinton;    "but    that's    evidence 

against  him.     I  only  found  out  yesterday  that 

when  he  retired  on  pension  he  was  going  home 

— and  he  hasn't  gone.    Why  not?    He  says  (so 

72 


The  Colossus 

I  hear)  that  his  lungs  are  still  delicate.  I  don't 
believe  there's  anything  the  matter  with  him." 

"A  man  may  live  where  he  chooses,  Hinton." 

"Not  when  our  esteemed  friend  M.  de  Cazoule 
says,  'I've  bought  you — stay  here.'  He's  not  in 
Cairo  by  choice.  I  saw  him  at  the  Club  the  other 
day.    He's  discontented  and  nervous." 

"You  are  a  dangerous  man,  Hinton,"  said 
Bontine  with  a  laugh.  "I  shall  see  him  at  the 
Club,  then.    Isn't  it  at  the  old  English  Agency  ?" 

Hinton  nodded. 

"You  might  just  take  me  down  now.  There's 
no  use  in  putting  things  off.  We  want  the  mat- 
ter settled,  and  I  want  to  be  back  in  Stellenbosch. 
This  is  too  noisy,  too  luxurious. 

" 'Persicos  odi,  puer,  apparatus: 
Displicent  nexse  philyra  coronse; 
Mitte  sectari,  rosa  quo  locorum 
Sera  moretur.' " 

"We  all  admire  you  in  your  simple  myrtle," 
said  Hinton.  "However,  we'll  go  down  now  if 
you  like.    I'll  just  see  if  the  Chief  wants  me." 

But  Loder  was  in  his  room,  and  wanted  no 
one.  For  he  was  smoking  over  a  big  atlas  and 
cursing  the  English  representative  at  the  Berlin 
Congress,  who  did  not  take  the  Belgian's  offer 
of  pre-emption  rights  over  the  Congo  Free  State, 
but  allow^ed  the  French  to  cut  in.  And  to  have  to 
73 


The  Colossus 

put  up,  perhaps,  with  a  mere  'way-leave'  for  his 
mighty  railway,  unless  indeed  he  made  better 
terms  with  the  German  Emperor  than  with  that 
grinding  tradesman  the  Belgian  King,  was  al- 
ways a  bitter  thing  when  Loder  considered  just 
that  little  bit  of  country  which  was  not  British  or 
Egyptian. 

Sir  George  and  Hinton  met  Romney  at  the 
Club  in  a  mightily  cheerful  state  of  mind. 

"I  shan't  ask  if  you  are  well,"  said  Bontine,  as 
he  shook  hands  with  him.  "Why  should  I  waste 
my  breath  in  absurd  inquiries  ?  I  never  saw  such 
a  man !    How  do  you  manage  it  ?" 

"It  seems  to  be  natural,"  said  Romney.  "Now, 
what  will  you  drink?" 

They  sat  down  in  a  quiet  corner. 

"Where's  Oppenheimer?" 

"In  Vienna." 

The  Contractor  dropped  his  lighter  manner. 
He  imagined  that  Loder  might  have  set  Bon- 
tine to  make  another  effort  to  part  him  and  the 
German. 

"Is  this  Powell  in  the  Club?"  asked  Bontine, 
and  Romney  cleared  up  again. 

"I  saw  him  just  now,"  said  Romney. 

"I'll  leave  you  two  alone  for  a  while,"  said 
Hinton,  with  a  look  at  Bontine.  "I've  a  little 
commission  to  do." 

74 


The  Colossus 

He  found  Powell,  whom  he  knew  slightly,  sit- 
ting outside  in  a  sheltered  corner,  and  he  spoke 
to  him. 

"Good-afternoon,  Mr.  Powell." 

"Oh,  how  d'ye  do?"  nodded  Powell. 

"I  believe  you're  a  damned  traitor,"  thought 
Emory,  "and  it  goes  against  the  grain  to  speak 
to  you." 

However,  he  did  speak,  and,  feeling  sure  that 
Powell  was  so  subtle  that  he  would  scent  nothing 
wrong  in  blunt  methods,  went  straight  to  the 
point. 

"You  know  Sir  George  Bontine  from  the  Cape 
by  name,  don't  you,  Mr.  Powell  ?" 

Powell  had  heard  of  Sir  George  Bontine. 

"Well,  he's  here,"  said  Hinton,  "and  I'd  like 
you  to  know  him.  He's  a  born  politician,  and 
is  interested  in  Oriental  politics.  And  I  told 
him  you  knew  more  about  them  than  any  one 
here.    As  for  us,  we  are  greenhorns." 

Powell  smiled  darkly. 

"It  is  the  common  opinion,"  he  remarked 
slowly,  "that  in  politics  a  Cape  man  has  nothing 
to  learn." 

"We're   just   brutal    compared    with    Eastern 
methods,  I'm  sure  of  that,"  said  Hinton.    "And 
if  Bontine  is  smart,  I'm  certain  ten  years  here 
would  have  made  him  smarter  still." 
75 


The  Colossus 

He  was  ingenuous  in  speech  and  ingenuous- 
looking,  and  Powell  could  not  see  below  the 
surface  into  as  promising  a  mind  for  intrigue  as 
existed  in  or  out  of  diplomacy. 

"Where  is  Sir  George  ?"  he  asked. 

"I'll  bring  him  out." 

"No." 

"Oh,  yes,"  said  Hinton,  who  did  not  want 
Powell  to  see  Bontine  with  Romney;  "he  said 
it  was  too  warm  inside." 

And  Powell  sank  back  in  his  chair.  Five  min- 
utes later  the  Cape  politician  sat  down  by  him. 

"Will  you  take  charge  of  Sir  George?"  asked 
Hinton.  "He's  not  a  member.  For  I  want  to 
go  back  to  the  hotel." 

"Of  course,"  said  the  presumed  traitor,  with 
an  excellent  manner. 

"Mr,  Hinton  says  you  are  interested  in  Orien- 
tal politics,  Sir  George." 

"I  might  say  I  was  disinterested  in  them,"  re- 
plied Bontine,  laughing.  "My  friendly  enemies 
at  the  Cape  always  say  I  am  interested  (to  the 
tune  of  any  amount  per  cent.)  in  them.  So,  when 
I  think  of  other  than  Cape  politics  I'm  eager,  but 
disinterested." 

Powell  looked  at  his  companion  sideways. 

"I  don't  think  there's  any  real  difference  be- 
tween East  and  West,  or,  as  we  should  say  here, 
76 


The  Colossus 

North  and  South.  I  met  a  Dr.  Giissfeldt  from 
Johannesburg " 

"I  know  him,"  cried  Bontine — "a  very  able 
man." 

"Undoubtedly ;  but  he  said  a  thing  that  stuck 
in  my  mind  ever  since.  He  was  greatly  inter- 
ested in  Pretoria,  and  he  remarked  to  me  that, 
having  had  much  experience  in  Turkey,  he  found 
an  almost  exact  replica  of  the  conditions  existing 
there  in  the  Transvaal  Capital." 

Bontine  nodded  and  laughed. 

"Did  he,  now?  Well,  if  Pretoria  politics  are 
Oriental,  I  think  I  shall  not  be  an  inapt  pupil," 
he  cried. 

"Giissfeldt  said  that  there  you  have  a  Sultan, 
and  a  palace,  and  a  tyranny  mitigated  by  conces- 
sions and  deputed  to  monopolies,  which  are  ob- 
tained by  bribery  or  service  rendered." 

"He  told  the  truth,  Mr.  Powell;  but  they  are 
children  at  Pretoria.  You  can  have  no  notion 
how  far  a  little  money  will  go  there.  I  have  been 
most  credibly  informed  of  cases  where  some  of 
them  have  taken  a  hundred  pounds  for  a  vote 
which  was  worth  five  thousand.  And  the  whole 
thing  is  pretty  open.  But  here,  under  this 
regime,  I  suppose  there  is  not  much  corrup- 
tion?" 

"Not   so   much   as   there   was,"    said   Powell 

77 


The  Colossus 

dryly.  "But,  then,  we  compare  the  state  of 
things  now  with  that  existing  under  Ismail 
Pasha." 

Bontine  laughed. 

"It  was  pretty  bad  then,  of  course.  I've  read 
so  much.  But  isn't  the  taking  of  money  here 
looked  on  as  quite  legitimate?  Now,  in  Pre- 
toria the  President  once  affirmed  publicly  that 
members  of  the  Volkraad  were  quite  justified  in 
adding  to  their  incomes  by  taking  money  from 
any  one  but  their  own  countrymen.  He  said  it 
was  spoiUng  the  Egyptians.  Is  it  looked  on  in 
that  way  here,  or,  generally  speaking,  among 
Orientals?" 

"I  should  think  so,"  said  Powell — "at  least,  to 
some  extent.  And  a  clever  man,  who  plays  his 
cards  well,  often  gets  paid  for  supporting  the 
side  he  would  never  think  of  opposing.  For  in- 
stance, I  once  knew  an  Austrian  in  this  country 
who,  through  a  piece  of  play-acting,  was  induced 
by  a  heavy  payment  not  to  oppose  the  granting 
of  a  concession  in  which  he  was  deeply  inter- 
ested." 

"By  Jove,"  said  Sir  George,  smiting  his  knee 
vigorously,  "now,  that  was  what  the  Americans 
would  call  smart !  And  I  don't  see  how  the  man 
could  be  blamed.  Now,  I  want  to  go  right  back  to 
Cape  Town,  and  I  don't  want  to  go  to  London. 
78 


The  Colossus 

If  any  one  were  to  offer  me  five  thousand  pounds 
to  go  to  the  Cape,  I  think — I  say  I  think — that  I 
should  take  it." 

He  smiled,  and  then  laughed  outright. 

"I  must  remember  that.  I'll  tell  that  story  in 
the  House  of  Assembly  yet.  I  wish  to  heaven 
I  was  there  now,  but  I've  come  out  to  try  and 
hurry  Loder  up,  and  it  looks  as  if  I  should  have 
to  go  and  leave  things  as  they  are.  Can  you  give 
me  any  notion  how  the  matter  stands  from  your 
point  of  view?" 

Powell  stared  out  across  the  desert. 

"It  stands  this  way,"  he  said,  after  a  pause. 
"So  far  as  I  can  see — and  you  must  remember 
I'm  out  of  it  all  now — every  one  in  the  Govern- 
ment here  is  convinced  it  would  be  risky  to 
risk  the  steadily  rising  credit  of  Egypt  in  a  mere 
speculation.  Even  the  Anglophiles  in  the  Min- 
istry feel  that  way.  Suppose  a  crash  came :  the 
French  would  say,  '1  told  you  so,'  and  it  might 
end  in  England  having  to  go,  or  in  a  disastrous 
war.  And  I  must  own  (though  I  am  an  English- 
man) that  there  is  a  deal  in  it.  I  had  a  conver- 
sation some  time  ago  with  Sir  Ellis  Bullen,  who 
was  kind  enough  to  consult  a  retired  civilian,  and 
I  said  so  plainly," 

"And  you  still  think  so?" 

"I  do,"  said  Powell. 

7.9 


The  Colossus 

"And  what  is  the  feehng  among  official  circles 
about  our  energetic  friend  Loder  ?" 

"They  ask,  Who  is  this  Loder?  He  has  no 
official  position,  and  to  politicians  steeped  in 
French  methods  and  traditions  that  seems  curi- 
ous, to  say  the  least.  And  it  is  remembered  how 
credit  went  to  pieces  on  that  occasion  in  the 
Transvaal.  They  say  he  fights  for  his  own  hand  ; 
they  are  naturally  particularist,  and  think  of 
Egypt  first." 

"And  do  not  know  how  great  a  part  he  had  in 
our  recovering  the  Soudan  for  them." 

"Their  motto  is,  'Timeo  Danaos,'  "  said  Powell 
dryly,  "and  even  among  the  English  themselves, 
you  must  remember,  there  is  a  party  against 
Loder." 

"There  was  a  party,"  said  Sir  George;  "but 
when  last  in  England  I  sought  for  its  remains 
with  a  microscope." 

"Is  that  so?  Yes,  I  dare  say  you  are  right. 
But  if  his  countrymen  have  had  their  confidence 
restored,  it  is  not  so  even  in  your  own  Colony. 
And  you  must  not  forget  that  the  French  power 
here  is  still  immeasurably  strong.  Zohrab  Bey, 
who  has  great  influence  at  the  Court,  is  Franco- 
phile to  his  finger-tips." 

Sir  George  nodded. 

"I  gather  that  the  cause  of  the  delay,  or  the 
So 


The  Colossus 

real  difficulty,  lay  there.  Could  it  be  overcome  in 
any  Oriental  way?  Or  is  Zohrab  honorable 
enough  to  refuse?" 

Bontine  noted  that  Powell  shut  his  hands 
tightly. 

"I've  been  here  many  years,  and  do  not  quite 
understand  them  yet,"  he  said  after  a  moment; 
"but  I  don't  believe  he  could  be  bought  to  act 
against  his  convictions,  and  I  know  him  very 
well." 

"Have  you  any  influence  with  him?"  asked 
Bontine  cheerfully.  "Because  if  you  have,  come 
and  see  Mr.  Loder,  and  let  him  talk  to  you  about 
the  railway.    He  can  tell  you  everything." 

"Thanks,  but  I  have  no  influence  to  speak  of, 
and  my  convictions  are  all  the  other  way." 

Sir  George  sighed  gently,  but  rubbed  his  hands 
with  satisfaction. 

"We  are  going  to  get  through,  anyhow,"  he 
said  heartily.  "But  I'm  glad  to  learn  your  opin- 
ion is  so  favorable  to  Zohrab  Bey.  For  if  he  is 
honest  and  can't  be  bought,  it  narrows  down 
our  suspicions  very  much.  For  Mr.  Loder  said 
to  me  only  this  morning,  that  if  he  knew  Zoh- 
rab had  not  sold  himself,  he  could  be  sure  who 
had." 

"Whom  do  you  suspect,  then?"  asked  Powell 
rather  hastily. 

6  8i 


The  Colossus 

"Mr.  Loder  wouldn't  tell  me,"  replied  the  Cape 
politician,  rising. 

"Of  course,"  cried  Powell,  as  he  too  got  out  of 
his  chair,  "I  couldn't  take  my  oath  Zohrab  is  im- 
peccable. As  I  said,  one  never  knows  among 
Orientals." 

"Then  you  are  not  so  sure,  after  all  ?" 

"No — o,'  said  Powell,  "no — o ;  but,  still,  I  hold 
my  opinion." 

"But  /  know  Zohrab  is  honest,"  said  Bontine 
suddenly. 

And  after  he  had  shaken  hands  with  the  ex- 
civilian,  he  went  straight  back  to  the  hotel. 

"That's  the  man,"  he  said. 

For  he  had  great  experience. 


CHAPTER  VII 

BoNTiNE  had  told  Emory  Hinton  that  certain 
unverified  inferences  about  Powell  were  not  evi- 
dence, and  yet  he  went  away  from  his  interview 
with  the  object  of  the  Secretary's  suspicions  quite 
convinced  that  Powell  was  sold  to  the  French 
party  in  Cairo. 

"Yes,  and  he's  the  man,"  he  said  to  Emory  on 
returning  to  the  hotel. 

"How  do  you  know?"  asked  Hinton  eagerly. 

"I  just  know,"  cried  Bontine. 

"That's  not  evidence,  Sir  George." 

"Of  course  not,  my  boy,  but  I  felt  he  was  the 
man.  I  noted  how  he  clenched  his  hands  when  I 
asked  if  Zohrab  was  an  honorable  man  and  above 
taking  bribes ;  I  saw  him  wince  nervously  two  or 
three  times  when  I  touched  the  raw ;  and  when  I 
shook  hands  with  him  at  the  last,  his  palms  were 
damp.  When  you  introduced  me  they  were  dry. 
And  if  I'm  wrong  I'll  cheerfully  engage  to  drink 
the  Nile  or  Esil,  or  eat  a  crocodile !" 

The  Secretary,  always  apt  to  be  a  little  com- 
bative with  any  one  but  Loder  (and  even  with 
him  when  Loder  invited  argument  as  he  some- 
83 


The  Colossus 

times  did)  took  Powell's  side  for  a  few  minutes. 
He  yielded  in  the  end  with  the  best  grace. 

"You  know  men,  Sir  George,  much  better  than 
I.  And  as  I  felt  pretty  certain  before,  now  I'm 
backed  by  you  I'm  quite  sure  of  it." 

Bontine  nodded. 

"You  haven't  tried  to  buy  him  yourselves?" 

"We've  only  just  spotted  him.  Do  you  think 
we  might  try?" 

"It  would  be  risky.  He  will,  of  course,  think 
we  suspect  him.  I  don't  mean  because  I've  talked 
with  him,  but  if  guilty,  of  course,  he  thinks  he's 
suspected.  And  he  would  look  on  anything  we 
did  as  a  trap.    What  would  your  Chief  say?" 

Hinton  looked  at  Bontine. 

"As  if  you  don't  know!  He  would  say,  'Go 
away,  go  away!  don't  come  worrying  me  with 
details.' " 

And  if  Hinton  had  gone  to  Loder,  after  that 
discreet  order,  with  a  request  for  a  credit  of  ten 
thousand  pounds,  with  a  view  to  removing  ob- 
stacles, or  for  the  purpose  of  buying  a  town  lot  in 
Cairo,  he  would  probably  have  got  it  without 
demur. 

"To  tell  the  truth,"  said  Bontine,  "I  would 

rather  not  buy  this  man.    A  chap  who  could  sell 

himself  to  the  French  would  take  the  money  and 

sell  us  again.     And  I  don't  think  he'd  bite  at 

84 


The  Colossus 

money  from  us.  But  look  here:  it's  getting 
late,  and  I  promised  to  take  my  wife  for  a 
drive.  She  will  be  raving  like  a  lunatic  on  the 
stoep  if  I  don't  hurry.  You  tell  Loder  what  I 
think." 

He  bolted,  leaving  Emory  Hinton  smiling  at 
the  notion  of  the  fair  and  very  gentle  Lady  Bon- 
tine  carrying  on  shamefully  upon  the  marble 
doorstep  of  the  hotel. 

"He  didn't  say  if  Miss  Broughton  was  going," 
said  Emory,  and  instead  of  seeking  Loder  at  once, 
he  followed  Bontine,  and  saw  him  get  into  the 
carriage  with  his  wife,  while  Gertrude  stood 
under  the  veranda. 

"Why  didn't  you  go.  Miss  Broughton?" 

She  turned  on  Emory,  smiling. 

"Because  they  are  still  lovers,  you  foolish 
man!" 

"Ah,  I  don't  understand  what  being  'lovers' 
may  be,  but  I  think  I  can  guess  what  it  feels  like 
in  the  singular  and  most  solitary  sense,"  cried 
Emory  with  an  air  of  melancholy. 

Gertrude  shook  her  head. 

"Not  you,  Mr.  Hinton;  you  are  far  too  much 
wrapped  up  in  Railways  and  Intrigues.  Your 
heart  is  made  of  sneezewood,  and  is  quite  inde- 
structible." 

"To  hear  you  talk,"  said  Emory,  "one  would 
85 


The  Colossus 

think  love  was  the  teredo  navalis.  And  let  me  tell 
you  my  heart  is  not  to  be  sneezed  at." 

"Sneezewood,"  said  the  fair  South  African, 
"only  excites  sneezing  when  it's  fresh  cut." 

"And  my  heart  is  bleeding,"  cried  Emory. 

He  almost  thought  it  was,  but  though  Gertrude 
knew  she  could  make  it  bleed  if  she  chose,  she 
did  not  choose. 

"I  know  better,"  she  replied ;  "and  how  did  you 
and  Sir  George  get  on  with  that  Powell?" 

Emory  stared  at  her. 

"How  did  you  know  we  were  with  him?" 

As  a  matter  of  fact  Sam  Romney  had  seen 
them  at  the  Club  and  had  told  her. 

"A  very  little  bird  told  me !" 

The  picture  of  the  great  Romney  as  a  little  bird 
upon  a  financial  bough  pleased  her,  and  she 
laughed  merrily. 

"But  what  does  it  matter  how  I  know?  I 
know  that  Powell " 

Emory  lifted  his  hand. 

"For  heaven's  sake,  if  you  will  talk  about  the 
things,  let's  go  where  we  are  more  alone." 

They  walked  away  together. 

"Well,  then.  Cross  Young  Man,  I  know  Mr. 
P.  is  no  friend  of  yours  or  of  Mr.  Loder's.  And 
when  Romney " 

"The  little,  little  bird?"  cried  Emory. 
86 


The  Colossus 

"And  when  Romney,  dear  big  Sam,  says  'that 
Powell,'  and  when  I  hear  our  subtle  and  convinc- 
ing one  and  only  Bontine  was  confabbing  with 
him  for  hours,  I  know  there's  something  in  it. 
Now,  what's  in  it?" 

Emory  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  drew  a  veil 
down  over  his  eyes.  If  Romney  abused  Powell, 
it  was  for  no  real  reason,  as  he  knew  nothing 
against  him  yet. 

"How  very  easy  it  is  to  see  you  have  something 
to  conceal,"  said  Gertrude  cruelly,  and  the  diplo- 
matic Secretary  winced.  "You  might  just  as  well 
tell  me,  because  I  know  very  nearly  as  much  as 
you.    Shall  I  tell  you?" 

"Certainly,"  said  Hinton  rather  coldly. 

"I  know  all  you  told  me  about  the  deadlock  in 
this  Intrigue  with  a  big  'I.'  And  I  know  Zohrab 
Bey  is  the  pivot  on  which  it  all  turns  or  may  turn. 
But  I'm  not  sure  about  'that  Powell.'  Were  you 
and  Sir  George  making  love  to  him  because  he's 
a  friend  of  Zohrab's  ?" 

"Do  you  know  he's  Zohrab's  friend?"  asked 
Emory,  opening  his  eyes. 

"I  didn't,  but  I  do,"  said  Gertrude.  "And  I 
want  to  know  whether  Powell  is  the  door-knob  to 
Zohrab?" 

"No,  not  at  all,"  said  Hinton. 

Whereupon  Gertrude  affirmed  inwardly  that 
87 


The  Colossus 

her  friend  the  Secretary  was  capable  of  lying  with 
a  real  air  of  innocence  after  all. 

"You  are  really  cleverer  than  I  thought,"  said 
Gertrude,  "so  good-bye.  I'm  going  to  interview 
Sam  Romney." 

But  she  found  Romney  deep  in  the  original 
Latin  of  the  Angelical  Doctor,  and  St.  Thomas 
Aquinas  was  so  engaging  that  she  could  not  draw 
him  away  into  lighter  conversation. 

"Tiny  will  soon  find  out,"  she  said  as  she  re- 
tired to  her  own  balcony  and  took  to  considering 
things  all  by  herself. 

What  could  she  do  for  this  Table  Mountain 
of  a  Loder?  They  would  not  tell  her  the  course 
of  the  Intrigue,  and  she  had  to  piece  together  a 
patchwork  of  fact  and  intuition.  And  like  a  skil- 
ful dressmaker  who  wants  to  imitate  some  subtle 
fold  in  drapery,  she  tacked  together  her  materials 
and  hung  them  over  many  theories.  In  some 
measure  she  was  free  of  the  feminine  tendency  to 
carry  intuition  out  of  a  woman's  province  into 
that  of  man's.  It  is  here  that  the  she-diplomatist 
mostly  fails.  Gertrude  preferred  realities  to 
dreams ;  and  as  she  managed  to  get  many  cross- 
lights  upon  the  situation,  it  presently  grew  more 
solid,  like  a  picture  viewed  through  a  stereoscope. 

"If  Powell  weren't  an  Englishman,  I  should 
really  begin  to  think  that  they  believe  him 
88 


The  Colossus 

bribed,"  said  Gertrude.  "But  of  course  he  can't 
be.  And  even  if  he  is,  Zohrab  is  still  the  key  to 
the  door.  If  one  could  only  decently  flirt  with  an 
Egyptian,  I  think  I'd  try.  But  I've  never  seen  an 
Egyptian  I  could  have  really  liked  enough  to  flirt 
with  but  Thothmes  the  Third.  And,  ugh,  doesn't 
he  look  horrid !" 

She  had  seen  him  in  the  Museum. 

"However,  I  would  flirt  with  Zohrab  if  I  could, 
if  I  could  just  get  where  Mr.Loder  would  have  to 
acknowledge  I  was  very  useful.    And  necessary." 

But  that  was  the  difficulty.  When  Tiny  Bon- 
tine  came  back  from  her  drive  with  a  pink  flush 
on  her  face,  she  found  Gertrude  on  the  adjacent 
balcony. 

"Have  you  yet  found  out  for  me  anything  about 
Zohrab?"  asked  Gertrude. 

"Zohrab.    Oh,  what  about  him?" 

Gertrude  screamed  lightly,  and  shook  her  head 
at  Tiny. 

"I  could  shake  you,  you  horrible  Tiny!  you 
selfish,  self-centred  Tiny!  You  don't  think  of 
me.  Now  George  is  here,  you  have  just  gone  and 
left  me  all  alone  in  the  desert.  You  know  I 
wanted  to  find  out  about  Zohrab,  and  you  just 
don't  care." 

Tiny  stood  up  against  the  assault  without  a 
quiver. 

89 


The  Colossus 

"Oh,  am  I  selfish? — well,  suppose  I  am. 
How  can  I  think  of  Zohrabs  ?  It  sounds  Arabian 
Nights,  and  my  brain  won't  stand  it.  However, 
I'll  ask  George." 

Gertrude  mimicked  her  distrait  air. 

"Yes,  you'll  ask  George.  You'll  say,  'Oh, 
George  dear,  Gertrude  says  she  wants  to  know 
about — oh,  about  Zohrabs  and  things,  and  she's 
such  a  trouble,  George!'  And  George  will 
say,  'My  sweet  poppet' — does  he  ever  call  you 
poppet.  Tiny? — 'what  the  devil  does  she  want 
to  know  about  Zohrab?'  and  you  will  forget, 
of  course.  Now,  what  is  it  I  want  to  know. 
Tiny?" 

She  held  her  finger  up. 

"Do  I  do  it  like  George,  darling?"  she  asked, 
and  then  Tiny  came  out  of  her  dream. 

"You  want  to  know  how  their  success  depends 
upon  him,  if  it  does." 

"Marvellous!"  cried  Gertrude.  "Now  you're 
clever  again.  I  do  wish  you'd  stay  clever.  But 
having  once  allowed  dear  George  to  make  a  fool 
of  you,  it's  all  over  when  he  comes  near.  I  can't 
think  what  you  see  in  George." 

And  of  this  Tiny  took  no  notice,  as  she  hap- 
pened to  know  that  Gertrude  liked  George  as 
well  as  she  liked  any  man  in  the  world,  bar  Mr. 
Loder. 

90 


The  Colossus 

"But  if  George  says  I'm  not  to  tell  you  any- 
thing?" she  asked  absently. 

"If  you  ask  him  the  way  to  make  him  think  I 
really  want  to  know,  I  shall  hate  you,"  said  Ger- 
trude. 

"What  will  you  do  about  it  if  you  know  ?" 

Gertrude  gave  a  little  irritable  squeak. 

"It's  curiosity — curiosity !  Are  you  never  curi- 
ous?" 

"I  don't  think  I  am,"  said  Tiny.  "It's  such  a 
trouble." 

Gertrude  shook  her  head. 

"To  know  you  is  a  liberal  education,"  she  cried, 
"for  I  was  taught  that  all  women  are  curious." 

"I'm  only  curious  about  things  I  want  to 
know,"  said  Tiny. 

Whereupon  Gertrude  laughed  till  she  cried, 
while  Tiny  Bontine  looked  on  with  a  faint  air  of 
wonderment  as  to  what  was  really  the  matter 
with  so  healthy-looking  a  girl  as  Gertrude. 

"Oh,  do  stop !"  she  cried  at  last ;  "you  make  me 
quite  nervous." 

And  after  dinner  Tiny  remembered  to  ask 
George  about  Zohrab. 

"Who  is  this  Zohrab,  George?" 

"He's  the  Head  of  the  Khedive's  Household, 
my  dear." 

"And  is  he  on  our  side  ?" 
91 


The  Colossus 

"That's  just  what  he  isn't." 

"And  if  he  was?" 

"It  would  be  smooth  sailing." 

"Then,  why  don't  you  get  him  turned  out?" 

George  shook  his  head. 

"I'm  afraid  we  can't.    I  only  wish  we  could." 

For  in  his  last  talk  with  Loder  and  Hinton  it 
had  been  decided  that  it  was  both  inadvisable  and 
dangerous  to  attempt  to  buy  Powell. 

"I  just  wish  we  could  get  him  disgraced,  or 
promoted,  or  out  of  it,"  said  Bontine. 

"Why?"  asked  Tiny. 

"Because  through  him  the  French  influence 
seems  to  exert  itself  on  the  Court." 

He  sank  into  reverie. 

"May  I  tell  Gertrude?"  asked  Tiny. 

"Eh— what?" 

"May  I  tell  Gertrude?" 

"Tell  her  what  you  like,"  said  Bontine. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

In  one  particular  point  Bontine  and  Loder 
were  absolutely  alike.  They  never  wasted  time 
when  a  sensible  opportunism  dictated  retreat. 
They  were  alike  convinced  that  Powell  was  the 
creature  of  Cazoule,  but  both  saw  how  difficult  a 
thing  it  would  be  to  prove  it.  Moreover,  when 
it  was  proved,  they  had  no  real  hold  on  Powell, 
after  all.  And  when  all  was  said  and  done, 
Zohrab  held  the  key  to  the  door.  It  must  be 
waste  of  money  to  bribe  Powell  when  they 
could  have  no  guarantee  he  would  run  straight, 
after  all. 

"But  Zohrab  is  notoriously  honest  and  Franco- 
phile," said  Bontine  with  regret. 

The  key  was  not  to  be  bought. 

Loder  grumbled  in  his  chair  like  a  distant 
thunderstorm. 

"I'd  see  Cazoule  again,"  he  growled,  "but  I 
have  nothing  definite  to  offer  him.  They  must 
know  we  are  at  a  deadlock,  or  I  shouldn't  be 
here." 

"Why  not  prepare  to  go  away?"  said  Bontine. 
"Suppose  you  just  give  a  dinner  to  all  the  big 
93 


The  Colossus 

English  pots  here,  and  try  to  look  as  if  you  were 
quite  cheerful." 

It  seemed  desperate  if  that  was  all  that  could 
be  done. 

"Half  the  population  down  South  look  on  me 
as  a  mere  financier,"  said  Loder,  taking  no  notice 
of  Bontine's  suggestion.  "Now,  if  I  had  been,  I 
should  have  had  enough  money  to  guarantee  the 
railway  bonds  off  my  own  bat.    Hinton !" 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  the  Secretary. 

"Write  to  Berwick  again,  and  get  him  to  go 
over  to  BerHn  and  try  to  have  Oppenheimer 
squeezed  out  from  there.  He'll  know  what  to 
do." 

"How  can  it  be  done?"  asked  Bontine.  "Don't 
you  think  the  German  Government  back  him  in- 
directly?" 

"Of  course,"  said  Loder;  "but  if  we  can  offer 
them  an  equivalent  somewhere  else?" 

"What?" 

Loder  drifted  into  thought. 

"Pretty  well  anything  north  of  the  Zambesi; 
something  in  China ;  perhaps  the  Samoan  Islands. 
If  the  Duke  won't  help  us  directly,  he  may  do  so 
much.  For,  if  Oppenheimer  were  induced  to 
withdraw,  Romney  could  not  help  himself,  and 
with  Oppenheimei:  out  Cazoule  will  come  in,  and 
.we  get  our  guarantee.  Yes,  Hinton,  you  can 
94 


The  Colossus 

write,  but  let  Berwick  see  the  Duke  first  before  he 
goes." 

Before  Hinton  had  scribbled  a  draft  of  his  let- 
ter in  shorthand,  Loder  spoke  again : 

"Tell  Berwick  to  try  and  get  something  unof- 
ficial which  I  could  show  here — something  sug- 
gesting that  the  Home  Government  are  seriously 
thinking  of  supporting  an  Egyptian  guarantee  by 
a  contingent  guarantee  of  their  own.  If  it's  only 
a  bluff,  it  will  be  better  than  nothing." 

Hinton  added  to  his  scribble. 

"No,"  said  the  Chief,  "cable  it  in  cipher." 

He  turned  to  Bontine  again. 

"Do  you  think  we  can  get  our  friends  the 
enemy  down  South  to  renew  our  own  Ministry's 
offer  to  carry  all  railroad  materials  free  over  the 
Cape  Railways?" 

Bontine  shook  his  head. 

"I  wouldn't  like  to  say." 

"It  would  excite  public  sympathy  in  England," 
said  Loder,  with  a  certain  distaste  only  explicable 
to  those  who  understood  his  old  Tory  reluctance 
to  ask  for  public  support  at  all. 

"All  the  more  if  it  came  from  a  Bond  Admin- 
istration," said  Bontine. 

But  at  the  Cape  the  matter  of  the  Northern 
through  railroad  was  a  sore  point  with  many 
men.  Not  a  few  eminent  politicians  there  con- 
95 


The  Colossus 

sidered  it  might  in  the  end  reduce  Cape  Town  to 
a  mere  Sleepy  Hollow,  while  others,  who  were 
worked  on  by  Dutch  Separatist  elements,  looked 
on  it  as  a  scheme  for  exercising  pressure  on  the 
Transvaal.  With  Egypt  in  British  keeping,  and  a 
through  railroad  in  existence,  troops  could  be 
landed  south  of  the  Zambesi  in  four  days. 

"Cable  to  Le  Gros  to  that  effect,"  said  Loder. 

Le  Gros  was  an  Englishman,  in  spite  of  his 
name,  and  acted  as  Loder's  chief  Lieutenant  at 
the  Cape,  where  he  was  at  once  hated,  feared,  and 
respected.  He  acted  as  a  lightning-conductor  for 
the  Chief,  and  was  looked  on  as  Loder's  evil 
genius.  But  like  all  other  men  who  acted  with 
Loder,  he  was  faithful  to  him  in  an  extreme  de- 
gree, and  worked  like  a  tiger  for  ends  which  were 
often  of  small  interest  to  him  personally.  He 
cared  little  for  the  odium  he  excited,  and  was  cal- 
lous to  criticism.  In  a  new  country  of  conflicting 
interests  and  unscrupulous  politics  there  was  no 
more  useful,  no  stronger  man. 

"Will  you  do  what  you  can  in  this  matter?" 
asked  Loder  of  Bontine.  He  was  never  quite 
sure  that  Bontine  might  not  have  something  of 
his  own  to  work  which  might  conflict  with  him. 
But  Bontine  nodded,  and  soon  afterward  went 
away.  He  was  by  this  time  really  and  absolutely 
on  Loder's  side.  To  those  who  had  watched  his 
96 


The  Colossus 

career  it  was  a  remarkable  indication  of  the 
Chief's  ultimate  success,  Bontine  on  the  fence 
was  an  object  of  fear  and  a  man  to  be  courted. 
His  getting  off  it  was  usually  an  act  of  prophecy. 
Some  called  him  a  weathercock,  but  his  career 
suggested  that  his  vacillation  to-day  meant 
knowledge  of  what  was  coming  to-morrow. 

When  Hinton  had  translated  his  cables  to  Ber- 
wick and  Le  Gros  into  cipher,  he  came  back  to 
Loder,  by  whom  the  silent  watch-dog — Matthews 
— had  been  sitting  while  he  was  away. 

The  Chief  by  this  time  was  in  a  kind  of  hyp- 
nosis, or  dream-state,  which  frequently  followed 
a  period  of  mental  activity,  when  he  could  not 
entirely  throw  the  matter  in  hand  into  the  Limbo 
of  Things  Accomplished,  or,  at  least,  in  train. 

"What  makes  a  man  succeed  or  fail,  Hinton  ?" 
said  the  Chief.  j. 

Hinton  had  been  asked  this  question  in  differ- 
ent forms  a  hundred  times,  and  as  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  thinking  about  what  interested  Loder,  he 
answered  with  promptness,  if  not  with  entire 
clearness. 

"That  which  makes  anything  else  succeed  or 
fail,  sir." 

"And  what's  that?" 

The  Chief  smoked  his  cigar,  aiid  let  his  eye 
rest  vaguely  on  his  Secretary. 
97 


The  Colossus 

"Isn't  it  energy  to  cope  with  obstacles  and 
adaptability  to  changing  circumstances?  You 
remember  how  the  Australian  gum-tree  won't 
grow  at  Bulawayo  just  on  account  of  the  white 
ants?  And  yet  there  are  white  ants  in  Australia 
which  it  can  resist,  or  perhaps  the  ants  there 
don't  like  it.  The  gum  grows  all  right  at  the 
Cape  and  in  Johannesburg,  but  its  one  lack  of 
resistance  kills  it  at  Bulawayo." 

"Go  on,"  said  Loder,  when  Hinton  stopped. 

"Aren't  men  like  that?  A  man  is  always  being 
attacked  by  something,  and  if  he  stays  in  one 
environment  too  long,  he  becomes  unable  to  resist 
the  attacks  in  another.  You  have  often  spoken 
about  Napoleon,  sir." 

"Yes,"  said  Loder. 

"Didn't  he  become  rigid  in  his  mind,  fixed  into 
the  mind  of  his  earlier  successes?  and  he  ignored 
the  changes  in  the  nation  which  was  his  environ- 
ment, and  through  which  his  very  successes  were 
brought  about.  And  then  he  was  out  of  touch 
with  those  whom  he  depended  upon." 

"Then  you  must  be  in  touch?"  asked  Loder 
dreamily.  "Do  you  think  I  am  sufficiently  in 
touch  with  my  environment — about  this  railway, 
for  instance?" 

"Of  course,"  said  Hinton,  but " 

"Go  on." 


The  Colossus 

Hinton  continued  with  some  hesitation. 

"But  supposing  you  were  to  get  crystalHsed 
into  a  kind  of  idea  that  making  railways  was  the 
only  thing  to  do,  and  then  endeavored  to  force 
that  notion  on  a  plastic  nation  which  had  turned 
to  something  else,  I  think  you  might  fail,  sir." 

"Hum,"  said  Loder.    "Go  on,  and  why?" 

"Because  you  must  have  some  force  behind  you." 

"Couldn't  I  have  it  in  me?" 

"You  have  the  idea,  sir,  but  not  the  strength. 
Are  we  not  doing  our  best  to  get  help  now?" 

"And  where  would  Caesar  have  failed  if  he  had 
lived?" 

"When  he  became  crystallised  in  his  idea  of 
conquest,  sir.  The  nation  would  have  got  tired 
of  conquest,  and  would  have  asked  for  rest." 

"I  believe  you  can  think,"  said  Loder ;  "but  all 
the  same  a  strong  leader,  to  a  large  extent,  can 
prevent  the  period  of  stagnation  coming." 

"Certainly,"  said  Hinton,  "but " 

"Go  on,"  said  Loder. 

"When  one  is  out  at  sea,  as  one  is  in  great 
affairs,  it  is  very  difficult  to  know  whether  one 
isn't  rowing  against  an  ebb.  I'm  glad  we're  in 
a  flood-tide  now,  Mr.  Loder,  if  we  do  get  into 
eddies  sometimes." 

"We're  in  one  now,"  said  the  Chief,  and,  en- 
tirely forgetting  Hinton  and  his  surroundings, 
99 


The  Colossus 

he  was  lost  in  reverie.  After  all,  was  the  Great 
Man  only  the  unconscious  representative  of  a 
great  constituency?  It  went  against  Loder's 
grain  to  acknowledge  it.  He  caught  vague 
glimpses  at  times  of  the  truth,  that  no  one  was 
the  less  great  in  the  mighty  pariiament  of  Man, 
because  he  needed  the  mass  behind  him,  if  he 
was  articulate  where  they  were  dumb.  To  direct 
part  of  the  motive  forces  of  a  nation  was  to  be 
big  enough,  surely.  And  yet  Loder,  like  most 
who  have  been  elected,  was  in  danger  of  consider- 
ing the  natural  delegation  of  forces  a  warrant  for 
Permanent  Dictatorship.  Even  when  the  most 
futile  member  of  Parliament  gets  an  invitation 
to  resign,  his  indignation  and  rage  at  the  folly  of 
his  constituents  are  on  a  parallel  with  Napoleon's 
wrath  at  finding  himself  no  longer  followed,  even 
by  his  generals.  Few  men  of  active  life  anticipate 
superannuation  with  equanimity.  But,  then,  no 
one  who  suffers  from  senile  dementia  is  ever 
aware  of  the  fact. 

Eustace  Loder,  however,  was  yet  far  from  crys^ 
tallisation  and  the  rigidity  of  old  age  and  small 
minds.  If  he  had  ever  been  in  danger  of  that 
psychic  disease  known  vulgarly  as  "  swelled 
head,"  his  Johannesburg  disaster  had  for  a  long 
time  averted  the  catastrophe.  It  was  a  common 
remark  among  his  intimates,  and  even  among  his 


The  Colossus 

opponents,  that  since  then  he  had  been  easier  to 
deal  with  and  less  domineering.  But  though  he 
had  a  strong  tendency  to  domineer,  it  was  not 
that  he  considered  himself  so  great,  so  enormous 
a  man.  It  was  owing  to  a  notion,  founded  on 
experience,  that  most  other  men  were  even 
smaller  than  he  was.  Though  the  effect  of  this 
might  seem  the  same  to  the  casual  thinker,  it  was 
certainly  not  the  same  with  Loder ;  he  could  con- 
sider himself  entitled  to  despise  the  ordinary  man 
without  worshipping  himself.  And  no  one  but 
himself  was  ever  conscious  of  his  hours  of  weak- 
ness. Yet  from  the  ashes  of  those  dead  hours 
he  rose  anew  with  tremendous  courage. 
"My  poHtical  life  is  only  now  beginning." 
So  spoke  the  Phoenix  of  African  affairs  when  he 
was  burnt  in  tribulation,  but  re-created  out  of  fire. 
The  man  who  is  visible  to  his  fellows  is  ever 
no  more  than  a  figurehead  for  the  mixed  per- 
sonalities behind  the  mask.  Only  sometimes  was 
Loder  aware  of  the  boiling  impulses,  which  he 
but  partly  understood,  that  surged  within  him. 
When  he  did  understand  (in  some  early  hour  of 
dawn  as  he  galloped  through  living  air),  he  felt 
like  a  conscious  automaton ;  like  one  mote  of 
humanity  in  a  moving  tide  that  was  yet  himself ; 
like  the  solitary  soul  seated,  a  remote,  uplifted 
Teufelsdrockh,  in  the  pineal  gland  of  the  brain. 


The  Colossus 

And  yet  in  this  isolation  and  remoteness  came 
very  fruitful  hours  of  exaltation  which  he  could 
have  revealed  to  no  living  man. 

In  such  hours,  equally  rare  and  terrible,  he  saw 
with  the  eyes  of  a  seer  how  Destiny  moved  among 
the  Empires.  He  saw  (in  later  years  with  more 
appreciation)  how  a  new  era  shone  red  on  the 
horizon ;  he  perceived  the  blind  intent  of  races 
in  a  wider  arena.  The  simplicity  of  his  own  na- 
ture, simple  because  he  took  for  granted  his  own 
creative  desires,  rebelled  at  first  against  the  com- 
plexity of  intrigue,  and  at  last  he  perceived  that 
such  complexity  was  necessary,  and  yet  only 
complex  because  he  stood  near  it.  The  original 
impulse  of  his  own  people  was  simple  enough, 
but  it  tended  to  lose  itself  in  pools  and  shallows. 
That  impulse,  caught  in  himself,  and  refreshed 
by  contact  with  a  single  mind,  could  be  translated 
anew  into  concentrated  action,  just  as  the  feeble 
electric  current  is  reinvigorated  after  its  passage 
beneath  the  Atlantic,  and  speaks  its  message. 
The  message  he  spoke  anew  was  the  message  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  race.  Not  only  Homer  returned 
to  the  people  in  flood  what  they  sent  up  to  him  in 
vapor. 

If  Eustace  Loder  had  been  asked  to  accept  this 
he  would  have  denied  it  doubtfully,  and  then, 
after  struggling  with  words,  which  were  often 


The  Colossus 

like  indefinite  symbols  to  him,  would  have  ad- 
mitted that  there  was  some  truth  in  it.  But  as 
those  in  contact  with  a  man  tend  to  regard  his 
mere  visible  husk-case  as  the  man  himself,  so 
Eustace  Loder  in  the  ordinary  business  of  life 
fell,  as  all  men  fall,  into  the  same  error.  He  took 
the  part  of  himself  which  was  definite  and  called 
it  the  whole.  He  said  he  was  Conservative,  when 
the  whole  essence  of  his  life  and  his  success  was 
that  he  stood  out  as  a  National  Delegate.  The 
people  who  applauded  him  were  taught  by  a  truer 
instinct  than  his  own.  The  mass  of  those  races 
who  feared  him  corroborated,  from  their  differ- 
ent standpoint,  the  conclusions  reached  by  those 
who  upheld  him. 

But,  in  any  case,  behind  his  nature  was  the 
sombre  and  powerful  genius  of  the  English  na- 
tion. It  worked  as  he  worked ;  it  was  strong  and 
it  was  petty ;  it  was  cruel,  it  was  kind ;  it  knew  no 
scruples,  yet  sometimes  shied  at  very  shadows ; 
it  was  as  inexorable  as  death,  energetic  as  the  sun 
itself,  as  cruel  as  hate,  as  childlike  as  mere  folly 
— bland,  blatant,  inevitable,  humorous. 

And  perhaps  the  gods  laughed  to  see  their 
child,  this  Man,  this  demi-god,  afraid  of  a  mere 
woman. 

"Stay  here,  Wilberforce.  I  see  her  coming," 
said  Eustace  Loder. 

103 


CHAPTER    IX 

So  peace  fell  upon  the  party  at  Cairo  for  a  little 
while,  and  in  this  period  of  peace  Berwick  had  no 
peace,  for,  like  a  good  lieutenant  in  a  far  portion 
of  the  extended  battle  line,  he  had  to  sacrifice 
himself,  and  spare  neither  labor  nor  the  persua- 
sion of  his  tongue  in  the  doing  of  the  Impossible. 
To  influence  the  Home  Government  with  its 
awful  inertia,  to  make  it  translate  a  little  of  its 
vast  potential  energy  into  the  realm  of  kinetics, 
to  stir  up  Berlin  Finance  into  a  reconsideration 
of  settled  plans,  was  what  he  had  to  do.  But  that 
he  was  doing  it,  or  demonstrating  that  it  could 
not  be  done,  gave  Gertrude  Broughton,  out  in 
sunny  Cairo,  a  chance  she  had  often  worked  and 
plotted  for  in  vain. 

If  Eustace  Loder  had  met  her  grimly  upon 
some  lovely  morning,  and,  without  watch-dogs, 
had  made  her  to  understand  that  he  was  wedded 
to  Africa  forever,  she  might  have  reckoned  up 
her  resources  and  given  way.  But,  by  shirking 
such  encounters,  he  encouraged  her  ambition  till 
it  became  rash, 

104 


The  Colossus 

"He's  just  shy,"  she  said. 

And  though  the  world  might  have  smiled  at 
the  notion,  it  was  nevertheless  partly  true. 

"If  he  did  not  like  me,  would  he  take  such 
care?"  she  demanded.  "He  recognises  his  weak- 
ness." 

But  then  his  weakness  was  partly  a  natural 
tenderness  for  the  weak.  In  his  individual  con- 
duct as  a  man  he  was  tender  to  a  fault ;  he  could 
endure  no  act  of  cruelty,  and  was  the  first  to  re- 
buke it  if  no  outside  force  of  bitter  circumstance 
made  it  necessary.  He  had  no  desire  to  humiliate 
a  woman,  even  if  her  ambition  led  her  in  the  path 
to  receive  humiliation.  Sometimes  he  was  even 
conscious  of  a  flattery  of  the  senses  in  the  am- 
bitious adoration  of  this  piquant  courtship. 

And  Gertrude  began  to  think  that  at  one  blast 
of  her  feminine  trumpet  the  walls  of  Jericho 
would  tumble  down.  She  would  see  him  alone ; 
she  was  not  accustomed  to  give  way.  And 
Chance,  rather  than  her  management,  gave  her 
the  opportunity. 

"Yes,  we'll  all  go  out  to  the  Pyramids  if  you 
like,"  said  Loder.  "Hinton,  arrange  to  have  the 
carriages  here  early,  and  I'll  ride  with  you.  Will 
you  come,  Romney?" 

"If  I'm  not  expected  to  climb  a  pyramid,   I 
will,"  said  the  big  Contractor. 
105 


The  Colossus 

He  want«.d  to  suggest  having  a  coach  and  four 
horses.  He  could  then  drive  part  of  the  way,  and 
try  to  blow  the  horn  the  rest  of  the  time.  When 
he  got  a  yell  out  of  the  coach-horn  he  was  happy. 

But  Tiny  Bontine  preferred  a  less  elevated  po- 
sition than  the  top  of  a  coach  tooled  by  Sam 
Romney. 

"I  would  as  soon  climb  the  Pyramids,"  she 
declared. 

"If  you  will  climb,  Mr.  Loder,  I'll  come  up 
too,"  said  Gertrude  boldly. 

What  an  enormous  situation  was  in  her  mind ! 
To  woo  the  very  spirit  of  Africa  on  the  Pyramid 
of  Cheops ;  to  look  down  in  company  with  Forty 
Centuries  on  the  underworld;  to  play  Cleopatra 
to  this  wily,  aloof  Caesar ! 

"Eh,  what?"  said  Csesar.  "I  climb  the  Pyra- 
mids !    Now,  do  I  look  like  it?" 

Gertrude  shrugged  her  shoulders. 

"I  believe  you  could  jump  over  them  if  you 
liked,"  she  declared.  "And  as  for  that,  you  are 
always  climbing  pyramids." 

"Or  building  them,"  said  Bontine.  "The  only 
difference  between  Loder  and  Cheops  is  that 
Loder  believes  in  productive  expenditure.  If 
Cheops  had  used  up  his  slaves  on  making  a 
through  road  to  the  Cape,  Romney  could  have 
taken  a  lower  price  for  laying  his  rails." 
io6 


The  Colossus 

So  the  expedition  was  arranged.  But  in  the 
morning  Gertrude  put  on  her  riding  habit. 

"Tiny  thinks  I'm  going  with  her.  But  I'm 
not,"  she  said. 

Loder  did  not  turn  up  at  breakfast,  and  sent 
out  word  that  they  were  to  start  at  once.  He 
would  follow  in  a  few  minutes. 

When  Hinton  explained  that  the  Chief  had  re- 
ceived some  despatches  which  he  did  not  hand 
over  to  him,  the  delay  was  accounted  for. 

"I'm  coming,"  said  Hinton. 

And  Wilberforce  Matthews  came  too. 

But  Gertrude  was  discreet.  Much  as  she 
wished  to  wait  for  the  Chief  and  ride  with  him, 
she  dared  not  risk  it,  and  she  rode  ahead  of  the 
carriages. 

From  the  river  to  the  Pyramids  by  the  straight 
hne  of  the  road  is  but  six  miles.  Even  at  that 
distance  their  enormous  bulk  cuts  the  sky.  As 
Gertrude  rode,  she  watched  them  grow  and  be- 
come clearer  in  the  exquisite  morning  air,  in 
which  a  touch  of  freshness,  born  of  the  night, 
still  lingered.  They  were  ancient  sentinels  of 
civilisation  on  the  verge  of  the  topaz  desert,  which 
had  beheld  them  rise.  By  their  apparent  immor- 
tality they  were  infinitely  suggestive  of  mortal- 
ity. For  a  moment,  as  the  woman  was  alone,  she 
felt  with  impatience  the  apparent  impotence  of 
107 


The  Colossus 

human  aspiration.  What  was  she  or  any  one? 
What  even  was  the  big  Chief?  Now  Rameses 
was  dust  in  ragged  cere-clothes ;  Thothmes  stared 
coldly  with  dim  unspeculative  eyes  on  the  walls 
of  a  very  morgue ;  Kings  and  Queens,  lovers  and 
beloved,  were  alike  nothing.  "Pharaoh  is  sold 
for  balsams,  and  Miriam  cures  wounds." 

But  as  the  night  of  contemplation  goes,  the  hot 
sun  and  the  day  return,  and  man  takes  up  the 
infinitely  small  part  which  cloaks  the  spirit,  even 
from  his  own  eyes. 

"What's  Hecuba  to  him,  or  he  to  Hecuba  ?" 

And  what  are  the  Pyramids  ? 

So  Gertrude  closed  her  mind  again — that 
part  of  her  mind  which  was  not  herself — and 
became  live  dust  once  more,  and  the  creature  of 
ambition. 

Now  after  her  rode  Eustace  Loder,  she  said. 
In  her  thoughts  she  saw  him  gallop,  heard  the 
thunder  of  his  horse's  hoofs.  It  suggested  pur- 
suit, force,  and  conquest.  Her  heart  beat  more 
quickly  as  she  turned. 

A  quarter  of  a  mile  from  her  were  the  car- 
riages. Looking  beyond  them,  she  saw  nothing. 
No  leader  of  men  was  urging  his  headlong  course 
her  way.  Strain  her  eyes  as  she  would  she  saw 
nothing  on  the  straight  and  solitary  road.  Was 
he  coming  after  all  ? 

io8 


The  Colossus 

"It  looks  as  if  he  wasn't,"  said  Gertrude,  And 
the  light  died  out  of  the  day.  She  felt  mean  and 
cross,  and  as  angry  with  Eustace  Loder  as  if  he 
had  played  a  boyish  trick  upon  her.  And  yet 
who  could  tell  what  great  necessity  kept  him  in 
Cairo  ?  No  one  knew  better  than  she  that  by  now 
the  Chief  might  have  utterly  forgotten  that  the 
Pyramids  existed,  that  any  of  his  friends  were 
living  and  breathing  within  miles  of  him.  And 
yet,  in  her  mind,  she  saw  him  lift  at  last  an  un- 
speculative  eye  (not  quite  so  ray  less  as  Thoth- 
mes')  and  look  for  the  absent  Hinton,  who  was 
his  right  hand. 

She  now  rode  slowly,  and  the  carriages  gained 
on  her. 

"Do  you  see  him  coming?"  asked  Tiny. 

"Do  you  see  him.  Sister  Anne?"  said  Romney. 

"I  do  not  see  him,"  said  Gertrude  with  ill-con- 
cealed sulkiness. 

"I  dare  say  he's  deep  in  his  letters,"  said  Tiny, 
"and  he  has  forgotten  us.  About  lunch-time  he 
will  wake  up  and  say,  'Eh,  what  ?'  " 

So  might  a  white  mouse  mimic  a  polar  bear, 
but  Tiny  set  them  all  laughing.  Even  Hinton 
and  Matthews  left  off  being  very  polite  to  each 
other.  But  Gertrude's  laugh  was  without  hearti- 
ness. She  was  in  a  reverie,  and  wondering  if 
she  dared  go  back  to  Cairo.  If  Loder  was  com- 
109 


The  Colossus 

ing  she  would  meet  him.  If  he  was  not  coming- 
he  would  be  alone  at  the  hotel.  There  sat  his 
little  watch-dog  in  the  carriage,  full  of  himself 
and  his  own  importance. 

"I'll  think  about  it,"  said  Gertrude. 

Already  they  were  within  reach  of  the  mongrel 
Arab  throng  guarding  the  Pyramids. 

"I  believe  I'll  do  it,"  she  cried  as  she  paid  no 
attention  to  the  bronzed  ruffians  who  begged  to 
be  employed,  and  looked  on  her  as  the  agent  in 
advance  for  the  carriages. 

She  glared  at  them,  and  saw  them  not. 

"I  will  do  it,"  said  Gertrude,  and  as  the  car- 
riages stayed  in  the  motley  gang  by  the  hotel, 
she  rode  on  ahead,  turned  to  the  right,  got  behind 
the  building,  and  galloped  straight  back  toward 
Cairo. 

For  all  the  weeks  they  had  been  in  Egypt,  she 
had  never  got  a  single  moment  alone  with  the 
Chief.  At  what  particular  time  the  poor  man 
grew  alarmed  she  was  unable  to  say,  but  the 
fright  must  have  happened  since  seeing  him  at 
Stellenbosch.  Perhaps  it  happened  then.  She 
remembered  giving  him  a  rose  not  very  long  after 
it  had  occurred  to  her  what  a  desirable  triumph 
over  every  woman  in  South  Africa  a  marriage 
with  Eustace  Loder  would  be.  She  knew  no 
woman  yet  fancy-free  who  would  have  refused 


The  Colossus 

him.  She  knew  some  who  would  have  sacrificed 
their  inclinations  to  their  ambitions,  A  bachelor 
of  any  sort,  and  at  any  time,  excites  the  feminine 
mind  with  natural  indignation,  and  an  especially 
fine  specimen  provokes  the  intensest  desire  to  pin 
him  upon  cardboard. 

"Men  hunt  wild  animals ;  we  hunt  men ;"  and 
when  man  takes  to  hunting  his  brother,  he  is 
aware  how  tame  all  other  sport  is. 

Truly  it  had  got  to  this  point  with  Gertrude 
Broughton.  She  regarded  him  as  a  Western 
American  regards  a  mythical  bear,  as  the  orchid- 
hunter  regards  the  lost  species  which  may  be 
found  once  more,  as  the  metaphysician  regards  a 
new  "method,"  as  a  book-lover  regards  a  unique 
Elzevir  or  Caxton.  There  are  recorded  cases  of 
Bishops  "collecting"  in  another's  library.  What 
wonder,  then,  if  a  mere  woman  was  hardly 
ashamed  when  she  desired  Eustace  Loder? 

And  yet  she  was  ashamed.  And  as  she  rode 
she  swore  that  she  was  not  merely  going  back  to 
see  him.  She  felt  unwell.  Her  heart  beat 
queerly.  She  was  going  to  have  a  headache ;  the 
sun  was  too  much  for  her.  She  was  going  home 
to  lie  down  in  a  darkened  room.  Of  course  if 
she  could  see  him  she  might  talk  to  him  for  a 
moment,  and  say  how  bad  her  head  was,  and  try 
to  draw  out  his  sympathy  as  the  sun  in  a  warm 


The  Colossus 

pool  makes  an  anemone  show  itself.  But  to  say 
she  was  going  back  entirely  on  his  account  was 
false. 

She  knew  it  was  false.  She  was  going  back  on 
her  own. 

And  as  she  galloped  Cairo  grew  into  Minarets 
and  Domes,  and  the  sound  of  it  filled  the  air  at 
last,  and  the  smell  of  it  filled  the  nostrils.  She 
crossed  the  Nile,  and  came  to  the  hotel,  and, 
leaving  her  horse,  ran  inside  into  heavy  shadows. 
Indeed,  indeed,  she  felt  ill.  Her  heart  beat 
tremendously;  her  knees  were  loosened.  For 
one  moment  she  was  half  inclined  to  go  to  her 
room  and  lie  down,  and  pretend  to  be  quite  as 
bad  as  she  felt. 

Yet  she  had  some  courage,  or  she  had  never 
come  to  this  pass,  when  she  felt  her  very  reputa- 
tion depended  upon  success.  An  open  door  in- 
vited her. 

But  Loder  was  not  there. 

She  passed  into  the  next,  and  he  was  not 
there. 

Perhaps  he  had  gone  out  just  as  she  came  in, 
and  was  now  riding  at  his  usual  headlong  gallop 
across  the  desert.  She  ran  to  the  window,  and 
saw  nothing. 

If  he  was  not  in  the  next  room 

But  he  was. 


'       The  Colossus 

And  as  Gertrude  entered  it  and  came  toward 
him  smihng  a  Httle  pathetically,  his  glassy  eye 
gleamed  and  he  sprang  to  his  feet.  The  table  in 
front  of  him  was  covered  with  papers.  With 
one  clutch  of  his  big  hands  he  swept  them  to- 
gether, and,  looking  like  a  startled  buck,  bounded 
out  of  the  room.  He  drove  the  folding-doors 
apart  with  his  shoulder,  and  was  gone. 

But  Gertrude  burst  into  shrill,  high-pitched 
laughter.  It  was  her  only  defence ;  she  made  it 
carry  far.  And  then  she  stamped  on  the  floor 
and  burst  into  tears.  In  five  minutes  she  got  her 
headache  right  enough,  and  was  then  quite  sure 
that  she  had  returned  with  one.  And  as  for 
Eustace  Loder,  he  was  neither  a  man  nor  a 
human  being ! 

For  two  hours  she  hated  him,  and  devised  tor- 
tures for  him.  For  an  hour  she  despised  him 
thoroughly.  For  half  an  hour  she  pitied  him 
consumedly.  For  some  fifteen  minutes  she 
wondered  if  she  should  really  like  him  again. 

And  then  she  did  like  him  again. 

But  Eustace  Loder  was  locked  inside  his  bed- 
room, and  there  was  damning  in  heaps  Gertrude 
and  Hinton,  and  especially  Wilberforce  Mat- 
thews. What  the  devil  did  the  man  mean  by  not 
instantly  returning  when  that  infernal  woman 
rode  back  ? 

8  113 


The  Colossus 

And  yet — and  yet  she  obviously  liked  him  very 
much.  And  certainly  she  was  pretty.  And  if  he 
ever  meant  marrying  any  one  (which  he  did  not), 
he  did  not  absolutely  and  forever  reject  her  as  a 
possible  wife.  But  that  he  was  being  pursued 
worried  him.  It  took  his  mind  away  from  work, 
from  the  Transcontinental  Railway,  from  the  big 
intrigue,  from  a  possible  way  out.  And  in  hu- 
miliating herself  she  humiliated  him.  She  made 
him  show  the  curiously  weak  side  of  his  charac- 
ter. He  knew  that  many  a  man,  say  even  Bon- 
tine,  could  have  patted  her  on  the  cheek  and  have 
said,  "There,  my  dear  child,  don't  be  a  fool!" 
But  with  such  a  woman  he  himself  was  like  a 
schoolboy.  She  terrified  and  abashed  him.  He 
had  no  defence,  no  weapons ;  no  zareba  of  thorny 
speech  could  protect  him ;  he  was  forced  to  flight 
at  any  Omdurman.  He  shut  himself  in  his  room 
as  though  he  were  the  Khalifa  himself  in  some 
vast  wilderness  of  Kordofan.  With  shaking 
hands  he  tried  to  rearrange  the  sheaf  of  papers 
he  had  snatched  up  in  his  escape.  But  he  could 
attend  to  nothing.  He  would  have  to  speak  to 
Bontine.  And  yet  he  did  not  want  to  hurt  the 
woman.     He  could  not  do  that. 

He  might  have  spared  himself  the  trouble  of 
thinking  how  to  avoid  it.  For  Gertrude  had  her 
plan  of  campaign  ready.  She  sent  out  word  that 
114 


The  Colossus 

Lady  Bontine  was  to  be  asked  to  come  to  her  the 
moment  the  party  returned  from  the  Pyramids. 
And  when  Tiny  came  she  begged  her  not  to 
speak  so  loud. 

"Oh,  my  dear  Tiny,  I  had  such  an  awful,  awful 
headache !  I  felt  it  coming  on  this  morning,  but 
I  didn't  want  to  spoil  the  excursion.  That's  why 
I  would  ride.     Oh,  my  head  is  bad !" 

"My  poor  dear!"  said  Tiny,  who  had  no  ob- 
jection to  being  deceived.  No  woman  of  decency 
ever  desires  the  truth  naked  and  unashamed,  espe- 
cially at  such  a  juncture.  "My  poor  dear,  what 
a  pity  you  went  out  in  the  sun !" 

"Yes,"  moaned  Gertrude,  "and  I  didn't  like  to 
tell  you — I  knew  you  would  be  so  disturbed — 
but  I  thought  that  if  I  went  away  quietly  you 
would  guess  what  was  wrong." 

Tiny  put  a  cool  hand  on  the  sufferer's  fever- 
ed brow,  which,  by  the  way,  was  no  longer 
fevered. 

"I  did  guess,  dear,"  she  murmured. 

"And,  oh.  Tiny,  you  can't  think  what  hap- 
pened." 

"Doesn't  it  hurt  you  to  talk,  darling?" 

Gertrude  groaned  a  little. 

"Oh,  I  must  tell  you.  I  went  into  the  little 
sitting-room,  and  Mr.  Loder  was  there.  And 
when  he  saw  me,  the  big  fool  jumped  up  and  ran 
115 


The  Colossus 

away  without  a  word.  And,  ill  as  I  was,  Tiny,  I 
shrieked  with  laughter.     I  just  shrieked." 

"It  must  have  been — funny,"  said  Tiny  with  a 
sympathetic  squeeze  of  Gertrude's  hand.  "He  is 
a  fool.  But  now,  dear,  you  must  be  quiet,  and 
I'll  send  you  some  tea  soon.  Will  you  be  able  to 
come  down  to  dinner?" 

Gertrude  moaned. 

"What,  with  a  head  like  this?  Tell  them  how 
bad  I  am,  and  how  bad  I  was  this  morning,  won't 
you?" 

"I  will,"  said  Tiny.  And  with  a  kiss  she  de- 
parted noiselessly.  She  shut  the  door  with  the 
utmost  caution. 

"She's  a  dear,"  cried  Gertrude  as  she  got  off 
the  bed  and  drew  back  the  curtains. 

But  the  interview  between  Loder  and  Wilber- 
force  Matthews  was  of  quite  a  different  charac- 
ter, and  there  was  a  certain  amount  of  strong 
language  in  it. 

"What  I  want  to  know  is,  how  the  deuce  I  was 
to  know?"  cried  Matthews  afterward  to  Hinton. 

But  Emory  was  very  sulky,  and  told  him  to 
go  to  the  devil. 


CHAPTER  X 

With  Tiny  Bontine  and  Gertrude  in  alliance, 
Loder  was  rather  sorry  for  himself  next  day. 
For  it  was  taken  for  granted  that  the  poor  Chief 
had  shown  extraordinary  rudeness  and  want  of 
sympathy  for  a  woman  with  a  bad  headache. 

Hinton,  who  soon  got  over  his  annoyance  at 
what  had  happened,  played  his  cards  skilfully, 
and  made  himself  extremely  pleasant  to  Ger- 
trude. 

"Indeed,  what  a  bad  headache  you  had!"  he 
said  earnestly.     "I  could  see  it  in  your  eyes." 

He  invented  headaches  in  his  own  family,  and 
gave  examples  how,  at  a  glance,  he  could  detect 
them  in  his  sisters. 

Hinton,  who  by  now  occupied  the  difficult  posi- 
tion of  being  on  the  verge  of  love  with  the 
woman  who  was,  or  believed  herself  to  be,  in  love 
with  Eustace  Loder,  had  quite  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  Gertrude's  persistent  passion  was 
merely  perverse  obstinacy.  He  could  not  detect 
any  signs  of  love  in  her,  and,  being  without  much 
experience  of  his  own,  was  not  aware  that  a  very 
respectable  degree  of  infatuation  may  be  com- 
117 


The  Colossus 

patible  with  a  fair  appetite  and  a  good  color.  But 
even  so,  it  was  a  great  comfort  to  him  to  perceive 
that  the  Chief  grew  more  and  more  afraid  of  the 
lady. 

Gertrude,  who  for  some  days  maintained  a 
vague  and  haughty  demeanor,  was  all  the  time 
concocting,  or  trying  to  concoct,  that  elusive  plan 
for  making  herself  absolutely  necessary  to  the 
Chief.  Tiny  had  told  her  what  George  Bontine 
had  said  about  Zohrab  Bey. 

But  how  to  disgrace  Zohrab,  how  to  get  a  hold 
on  him?  And  was  it  an  honest  thing  to  try  to 
disgrace  an  honest  man?  She  admitted  that  in 
any  other  case  it  would  be  rather  wicked,  but  as 
it  concerned  Eustace  Loder  and  the  Cape  to 
Cairo  Railway  it  was  a  different  thing. 

"Why  don't  you  try  and  get  Zohrab  turned 
out?"  she  asked  Hinton. 

"I  think  you  wanted  to  know  that  before,"  said 
Hinton,  "and  I  believe  I  told  you  that  we  can't. 
If  he  was  a  Minister,  Sir  Ellis  Bullen  could  shunt 
him ;  but  he's  in  the  Khedive's  Household." 

Gertrude  touched  Emory  on  the  sleeve  as  they 
sat  under  the  veranda.  He  turned  round  and 
found  her  eyes  fixed  on  him. 

"Why  can't  you  disgrace  him  in  some  way  ?" 

"And  get  him  out  of  favor,  you  mean  ?" 

Gertrude  nodded. 

ii8 


The  Colossus 

"I  don't  see  how  to  do  it." 

"I  think  I  see,"  said  Gertrude. 

"See  what?" 

"How  to  do  it,"  said  Gertrude. 

And  Hinton  shrugged  his  shoulders.  By  that 
gesture  he  lost  all  chance  of  getting  Gertrude's 
confidence.     He  piqued  her  intensely. 

"Then  I'll  do  it  by  myself,"  said  Gertrude.  "I 
was  thinking  of  asking  your  help,  but  I  won't." 

She  got  up  and  marched  away  indignantly. 

"He  thinks  I'm  a  fool,"  she  cried.  "But  I'll 
show  him  and  Eustace  Loder  that  they  are  the 
fools.  If  I  were  a  man,  I'd  have  Zohrab  put  in  a 
sack  and  dropped  into  the  Nile.  But  I'm  only  a 
woman." 

But  that  humility  was  the  humility  of  pride. 

"If  Eustace  Loder  were  never  to  speak  to  me 
again,  I'd  help  him  all  the  same.  He  thinks  he 
does  everything  himself;  but  I'll  show  him  he 
doesn't." 

And  now  for  some  days  Loder  spoke  to  few 
but  Hinton  and  Bontine.  Berwick  had  sent  him 
two  cables. 

"He  says,  sir,"  said  Hinton  when  he  had  trans- 
lated them  out  of  cipher,  "that  the  Duke  won't 
move  in  the  matter  of  the  contingent  guarantee, 
but  that  when  Parliament  meets  next  month  there 
is  some  chance  of  exercising  pressure  on  him." 
119 


The  Colossus 

Loder  frowned. 

"And  as  to  Berlin?" 

"He  cables  from  Berlin  in  the  second  cable," 
said  Hinton,  "and  in  two  words — 'Finance  im- 
movable.' " 

"Damn !"  said  Loder.  "Upon  my  soul  I'm  get- 
ting sick  of  it.  For  two  pins  I'd  go  back  to  the 
Cape  and  breed  lions,  and  let  everything  go." 

He  thought  he  meant  it,  but  those  who  knew 
him  were  well  aware  that  when  he  spoke  in  that 
manner  it  was  the  prelude  to  renewed  activity. 
His  pride  was  in  succeeding ;  and  each  year  it  be- 
came a  more  intolerable  thing  to  fail.  But  the 
most  intolerable  thing  of  all  was  not  failure  in 
any  given  scheme — it  was  failure  in  the  renewal 
of  perseverance.  His  perseverance  was  more 
than  individual — it  was  racial,  automatic,  self- 
renewing.  He  did  things,  not  so  often  by  in- 
spiration, as  by  blind  search  for  the  open  way. 
The  line  of  least  resistance  is  found  easiest  by  the 
mobile  fluid. 

Romney  and  Oppenheimer  could  not  be  moved. 
Very  well,  then,  he  accepted  them.  Powell  could 
not  be  bought,  because  no  one  could  guarantee 
his  acting  fairly  by  those  who  bought  him  last. 
Once  and  again  he  had  tried  Cazoule,  but  found 
him  inexorable  as  to  his  terms.  Sir  Ellis  Bullen 
would  not.  use  his  power  to  squeeze  the  Egyptian 


The  Colossus 

Government.  The  Duke  of  Enfield  would  not 
insist  on  that  Government  being  squeezed.  The 
EngHsh  people  were  not  yet  awake  to  the  fact 
that  so  much  depended  on  laying  down  this  rail- 
way. For  a  railway  is  the  best  form  of  actual 
occupation.  They  did  not  even  know  how  great- 
ly the  recovery  of  the  Soudan,  and  the  avenging 
of  Gordon,  were  due  to  him.  He  felt  he  wanted 
to  get  upon  a  big  platform  and  say  so  in  a  few 
blunt  words :  "  Well,  Gentlemen,  and  in  this  com- 
pany of  Africa,  unlimited,  we're  all  shareholders, 
all  of  us.  We  are  amalgamating  the  various 
competing  businesses,  and  by  spending  money 
now  we  shall  save  money  by-and-by.  We  have 
practically  taken  Egypt  into  partnership,  and  we 
have  improved  that  business.  And  there's  the 
Soudan;  and  Uganda;  and  Nyassaland;  and 
Rhodesia.  It's  for  you  to  say  whether  it's  worth 
it.  Remember,  if  you  ever  lose  money  as  share- 
holders, that  England  owns  the  debentures. 
That's  my  scheme." 

But  he  could  not  speak  that  way.  There  were 
always  so  many  others  to  consult.  The  thing 
must  be  done  quietly.  And  the  English  people 
were  in  some  things  so  innocent.  They  seemed 
to  believe  in  Destiny,  but  they  never  thought  of 
the  myriad  ways  of  Destiny's  working.  The 
mere  fact  of  mining  and  countermining,  of  in- 


The  Colossus 

trigue  in  intrigue,  and  intrigue  against  intrigue, 
shocked  them.  They  preferred  (Hke  himself,  by 
the  way)  to  cry,  "Oh,  go  away,  and  don't  worry 
me  with  details !" 

But  what  was  the  line  of  least  resistance  now  ? 

He  lighted  a  long  black  cigar,  locked  one  ankle 
round  the  other,  and  let  his  mind  work  like  yeast. 
And,  seeing  this,  Hinton  bundled  up  his  papers 
and  Berwick's  cables  and  departed. 

He  found  Gertrude  and  Tiny  and  Sam  Rom- 
ney  round  the  corner. 

"What's  the  news?"  asked  big  Sam. 

"None,"  said  Hinton  dryly. 

"And  for  once  no  news  is  not  good  news,"  said 
Romney,  who  was  himself  beginning  to  get  wor- 
ried as  to  the  final  outcome  of  the  affair.  Though 
habit,  liking,  and  many  interests  bound  him  to 
Oppenheimer,  he  could  not  help  feeling  it  was 
possible  that  he  and  his  partner  were  ruining 
Loder's  greatest  scheme.  And  if  he  did  ruin  it, 
both  he  and  Oppenheimer  made  nothing  out  of 
it    That  was  "flat." 

"Is  Loder  to  be  talked  with  this  morning?"  he 
asked. 

But  Hinton  shook  his  head. 

"Dear  me!"  said  Gertrude,  "the  way  we  all 
hang  upon  Mr.  Loder,  and  Mr.  Loder's  moods 
and  Mr.  Loder's  whims,  and  let  Mr.  Loder  walk 

122 


The  Colossus 

over  us,  argues  one  of  two  things :  either  he's 
very  big,  or  we  are  very  small.  And  this  morn- 
ing I  incline  to  the  last  hypothesis.  But  tell 
us  the  truth,  Mr.  Hinton,  Conspirator,  have 
you  settled  to  cut  Zohrab's  throat  or  your 
own?" 

"Don't  talk  horridly,"  said  Tiny.  "Let  Mr. 
Romney  go  on  amusing  us.  Tell  us  how  you 
get  on  with  the  violoncello,  Mr.  Romney." 

"You  would  fiddle  while  Rome  was  burning!" 
cried  Gertrude.  "But  go  on,  Mr,  Romney,  tell 
her  all  about  the  'cello.     I'm  going." 

She  followed  Hinton,  and  when  they  were 
round  the  corner  she  called  to  him. 

"Mr.  Hinton !" 

"Miss  Broughton !" 

"I  want  to  meet  Zohrab  Bey." 

Hinton  looked  down  on  her. 

"Why?" 

"Just  out  of  curiosity." 

"Haven't  you  seen  him?" 

She  nodded.  "But  I've  not  spoken  to  him. 
Does  he  talk  English?" 

"Not  well,"  said  Emory.  "And  what  is  your 
French  like?" 

Gertrude  made  a  mouth  and  shrugged  her 
shoulders. 

"Not  so  good.  But  I  can  talk  enough  to  get 
123 


The  Colossus 

on  with.     I  want  to  meet  Zohrab  again.     How  is 
it  to  be  done?" 

Emory  grunted. 

"Why  do  you  want  to  meet  him?"  he  asked 
suspiciously. 

Gertrude  shook  her  head. 

"Didn't  I  say  out  of  curiosity?" 

"Yes ;  and  this  morning  you  said  you  thought 
you  saw  how  to  disgrace  him,  and  that  you 
would  do  it  all  by  yourself,  didn't  you?" 

Gertrude  laughed. 

"Of  course  I  did;  but  you  don't  imagine  I 
mean  everything  I  say,  do  you?  Am  I  not  a 
woman  ?" 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Emory  gloomily. 

"Well,  then,  a  human  being?" 

"Perhaps,"  said  Emory ;  "but  you  are  not  uni- 
versally humane." 

"Indeed,  no!"  cried  Gertrude.  "I  cannot  go 
so  far  as  that.  But  how  can  I  meet  Zohrab  ?  If 
you  won't  tell  me  I'll  ask  Wilberforce  Matthews. 
He'll  do  anything  I  ask  him." 

"You  might  go  to  the  big  ball  given  by  the 
French  Minister  next  week,"  said  Emory  rather 
hastily. 

"Why,  we  are  going,"  said  Gertrude ;  "but  will 
Zohrab  be  there?" 

"Of  course." 

124 


The  Colossus 

"Oh,  thank  you  so  much !"  she  cried.  "Thank 
you  ever  so  much.     And  will  you  go,  too?" 

"I  don't  know.  I  think  not.  If  you  were  to 
ask  nie " 

"I'm  not  giving  the  ball,  Mr.  Hinton,  and  I 
can't  ask  you." 

"All  right,"  said  Emory  shortly ;  ""then  I  shan't 

go- 

And  after  saying  so  he  went  right  off  to  a  man 
who  knew  a  French  Attache  intimately,  and 
screwed  out  of  him  (for  value  received  in  infor- 
mation of  no  value)  the  promise  of  a  card  for  this 
particular  function. 

While  he  was  thus  engaged,  Gertrude  was  re- 
considering in  the  light  of  these  later  events  the 
dress  she  meant  to  wear  at  the  ball.  If  it  was 
true  that  Zohrab  was  particularly  sensible  to  the 
charms  of  feminine  beauty,  she  might  very  possi- 
bly make  a  fool  of  him.  And  yet  she  remem- 
bered that  ass  Wilberforce  Matthews  saying: 

"His  character  is  not,  for  instance,  what  one 
could  recommend." 

She  was  no  child,  and  understood  well  enough 
that  engaging  in  any  plot  against  a  man  of  this 
sort  meant  some  danger. 

"I'll  risk  it,"  she  cried,  and  having  decided  to 
do  so,  she  felt  much  happier,  and  sat  down  to 
work  out  the  details  of  a  plan  which  w^as  rather 
125 


The  Colossus 

melodramatic,  but  appeared  to  her  to  have  con- 
siderable merits.  "I'll  show  him  that  I've  not 
known  every  detail  in  intriguing  at  the  Cape  for 
nothing.  But  men  always  think  us  fools  till  they 
find  out  the  contrary.  And  really  (when  I  think 
of  most  women)  it's  a  safe  rule." 

And,  indeed,  such  a  strongly  held  tradition 
among  men  must  have  some  grounds  to  rest  on. 
It  was  very  doubtful  whether  Gertrude  and  her 
notions  would  not  in  the  end  strengthen  this 
masculine  induction.  Feeling  sure  that  Bontine 
would  nip  any  action  of  hers  in  the  bud,  she  de- 
cided to  tell  nobody. 

"I'll  play  this  hand  alone,"  she  cried. 

After  lunch  she  drove  out  by  herself,  and  had 
an  interview  with  a  voluble  Frenchman  in  Bulak 
Street,  who  acted  as  a  general  commission  and 
house  agent.  And  on  her  return  toward  the 
hotel  she  stayed  for  half  an  hour  with  the  man- 
ager of  a  Bank  on  which  she  held  a  draft  when 
she  first  came  to  Cairo  with  Tiny. 

"Then  I  will  cable  to  Cape  Town  at  once, 
madam,"  said  the  manager,  as  he  saw  her  to  her 
carriage. 

"If  you  will  be  so  good,"  cried  Miss  Brough- 
ton. 


CHAPTER  XI 

If  they  had  not  all  turned  toward  Eustace 
Loder,  as  Mohammedans  turn  toward  the  Kib- 
leh  at  prayer-time,  and  if  Tiny  especially  had  not 
been  much  occupied  with  her  husband,  they 
might  have  noted  during  the  next  week  that  Ger- 
trude was  in  a  strange  abnormal  mood.  She  was 
fidgety  and  abstracted ;  she  eyed  them  with  as 
unspeculative  a  glare  as  ever  Loder  used  when 
deep  in  thinking ;  she  began  to  speak,  and  broke 
off  in  the  most  unsatisfactory  manner.  But  she 
baffled  all  inquiries,  and  even  snubbed  Hinton. 

"Now,  what  were  you  beginning  to  say?"  he 
asked. 

"I  was  thinking  of — of — of  Cape  politics,"  she 
replied. 

"And  of  the  orientation  of  the  Pyramids,"  sug- 
gested Emory  scornfully,  "or  of  me." 

"You  and  the  Pyramids !  Dear  me,  Mr.  Hin- 
ton !" 

"Ego,  et  Rex  meus,"  said  Hinton.     "At  any 
rate,  I  know  where  I  am,  and  so  far  I  greatly 
resemble  even  the  Great  Pyramid," 
127 


The  Colossus 

"Well,  I  was  not  thinking  of  the  Pyramid  and 
its  new  partner.  As  I  said,  I  was  thinking  of 
politics." 

"I  believe  you  are  scheming  about  Zohrab," 
said  Emory.    "I  hope  you  are  not." 

"Zohrab!  I'd  almost  forgotten  him,"  cried 
Gertrude  cheerfully.  "1  was  considering  how  it 
was  that  you  all  seemed  to  be  in  the  ditch.  Do 
you  know,  you  remind  me  of  a  child's  rhyme  I 
heard  the  other  day  in  England." 

"What  was  it?" 

"It  went  like  this,"  said  Gertrude : 

"  'The  centipede  was  happy  till  the  toad  one  day,  in  fun, 
Said,  "Pray  which  leg  goes  after  which?" 
That  wrought  him  up  to  such  a  pitch 
He  lay  distracted  in  a  ditch, 
Considering  how  to  run.'  " 

"I  believe  you  wrote  it,"  said  Hinton.  "But, 
to  be  hypercritical,  centipedes  don't  run,  and  as 
to  our  centipede,  we  mean  getting  there." 

"And  so  do  I,"  said  Gertrude.  "But  the  au- 
dience is  getting  tired  of  waiting  for  you." 

"What  audience  ?" 

"The  British  Public.  The  papers  are  full  of 
Mr.  Loder,  and  Sir  George  Bontine,  and  so  on, 
but " 

"They  don't  know  the  truth.  They  take  it  all 
128 


The  Colossus 

on  trust.  Here  we  are,  and  they  know  we  don't 
come  to  Egypt  for  our  heaUh." 

"You  are  saying  'We' !" 

"I  mean  you  too,"  cried  Hinton.  "But  am 
I  to  come  to  that  ball?" 

"If  you  like,"  said  Gertrude.  "She  looked  at 
him  vaguely.  "I  am  not  the  French  Minister's 
wife." 

"She's  a  pretty  woman." 

"Thanks,"  said  Gertrude. 

"But  you  are  beautiful." 

"It's  getting  very  warm  here,"  said  Gertrude, 
and  she  rose.    She  stayed,  all  the  same. 

"Is  Zohrab  what  people  call  a  bad  man?" 

"How  bad?"  asked  Emory. 

"Oh,  just  bad,"  said  Gertrude ;  "you  know." 

"I  don't,"  cried  Emory ;  "but " 

"Can  you  recommend  him  as  a  chaperon,  so  to 
speak?" 

"Scarcely,"  said  Hinton  coldly.  "Not  in  that 
way." 

"You  are  sure  ?" 

"Certain." 

Gertrude  nodded. 

"Then,'  I  rrriist  avoid  him,  of  course.  How 
very  annoying,  just  when  I  was  getting  inter- 
ested in  his  noble  character!" 


-isg 


The  Colossus 

She  really  went  then,  but  she  left  Emory  Hin- 
ton  staring  after  her  curiously. 

"I  wish  I  knew  what  she  is  up  to,"  he  mur- 
mured. 

And  at  last  the  day  of  the  ball  came.  Hinton 
had  made  arrangements  and  was  asked,  but  at 
the  last  Loder  couldn't  do  without  him.  Ber- 
wick's accounts  by  letter  of  his  attempts  to  move 
Finance  in  Berlin,  and  the  democratic  Duke  of 
Enfield  in  London,  came  to  hand  that  very  even- 
ing, and  Loder,  who  for  some  days  had  been 
more  or  less  in  the  open  air  of  life,  plunged  head- 
long once  more  into  the  mephitic  cave  of  In- 
trigue. 

"Devilish  good  man !"  said  Loder. 

He  referred  to  Berwick,  who  certainly  had  en- 
deavored to  move  mountains.  He  had  written 
a  letter  somewhat  according  to  Loder's  own 
specification  concerning  the  likelihood  of  an 
English  Protectorate  in  Egypt. 

He  said : 

"I  enclose  you  a  letter  as  to  the  Protectorate. 
I  think  it  sounds  plausible,  and  you  might  pos- 
sibly be  able  to  use  it  at  any  moment  when  an 
oimce  extra  seems  wanted.  But  it  is,  of  course, 
a  pure  concoction." 

The  enclosed  letter  read  thus : 


J30 


The  Colossus 

Private. 

"Dear  Mr.  Loder, 
"I  have  just  returned  from  Berlin.    The  mat- 
ter you  suggested  has  been  carried  through  con- 
tingently.   The  result  will  not  appear  unless  you 

wish  it  to  come  out.    I  saw  the  Duke  of ,  as 

was  suggested  to  me  by  our  Egyptian  friend, 
and  though  he  was,  as  usual,  extremely  cautious, 
you  need  not  be  afraid  of  the  result  if  it  is  only 
pushed  sufficiently.  English  opinion  in  the  mat- 
ter is  rapidly  growing,  but  the  public  expression 
of  it  has  been  guarded,  owing  to  suggestions 
made  by  the  F.  O.  to  the  big  Editors.  I  am  in- 
clined to  suggest  that,  as  the  Tanganyika  guar- 
antee will  certainly  go  through  next  session,  you 
might  with  advantage  decline  to  negotiate  in 
Egypt  on  the  old  lines.  Pressure  toward  a  Pro- 
tectorate is  what  they  want  here,  and  if  it  is  set 
about  that  your  scheme  has  been  spoiled  by 
French  intrigue,  there  will  be  trouble.  As  to 
Germany  and  Turkey,  please  see  enclosed  cipher. 
"Yours  very  sincerely, 

"Louis  Berwick." 

When  Hinton  read  this  out,  Loder  laughed 
and  smote  his  thigh.  And  Emory  Hinton 
chuckled. 

"I  can  see  Berwick's  face  as  he  wrote  it,  sir," 
131 


The  Colossus 

said  Emory.  "His  eyes  would  twinkle,  wouldn't 
they?" 

"It's  not  bad — not  at  all  bad,"  said  Loder. 
"Berwick's  heart  is  in  his  work,  and  it  always 
was,  whether  he  fought  for  me  or  against  me." 

Hinton  read  further  in  the  covering  letter : 

"In  the  postscript  he  says :  'I  sent  over  to 
Van  Beer  at  Paris  to  see  that  it  was  suggested 
that  Cazoule  and  his  backers  were  playing  into 
the  hands  of  England.  And  X  has  the  tip 
too." 

X  was  the  very  important  Paris  representative 
of  a  very  important  London  paper,  and  was  par- 
tially in  the  confidence  of  Loder's  party,  and  of 
Loder  too.  But  that  last  was  a  different  thing. 
It  was  sometimes  said  that  Loder  gave  no  one 
his  whole  confidence.  Hinton  occasionally  per- 
ceived curious  and  inexplicable  lacunar  in  Lo- 
der's theories,  but  when  he  pointed  them  out  the 
Chief  was  apt  to  do  no  more  than  grunt.  If  he 
was  pressed  further  he  growled,  "That's  all 
right." 

When  Hinton  had  finished  Berwick's  letter 
and  taken  the  Chief's  instructions  with  regard  to 
answering  certain  points,  he  hoped  to  get  away. 
But  Loder  was  in  a  rather  talkative  mood,  and 
persisted  in  discussing  Cazoule  from  a  personal 
point  of  view.  If  Hinton  agreed  with  him  he 
132 


The  Colossus 

nodded;  if  he  disagreed  he  heard  his  Secretary 
to  the  last,  and  went  on  to  another  point. 

"I  don't  think  he  will  trouble  about  being  a 
Frenchman,"  said  Hinton  in  the  end.  "After 
all,  he's  a  financier  and  the  mouthpiece  of 
Finance.  And,  as  you  say,  though  the  French 
Government  and  the  French  financiers  play  a 
give-and-take  game,  there  is  little  patriotism 
about  money." 

And  though  Romney  came  along  later,  Hin- 
ton never  got  to  the  ball.  He  stayed  up  till 
the  rest  came  back,  though,  and  he  found  Ger- 
trude in  the  most  inexplicable  and  maddening 
spirits. 

"I've  talked  with  the  Head  of  the  Household," 
she  declared,  "and  found  him  most  fascinating." 

"Yes?" 

"I  should  think  so,"  cried  Gertrude ;  "I  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  Egyptians  and 
Turks,  but  especially  Turks " 

"Zohrab  isn't  a  Turk." 

"Who  said  he  was?  You  interrupt,  Mr.  Hin- 
ton, and  have  no  tact.  I  adore  Zohrab,  and  I  sat 
and  talked  with  him  for  hours.  He  talks  a  little 
English  and  called  me  'Meess';  and  then  we 
talked  French,  and  he  wanted  me  to  go  round 
the  corner  to  smoke  a  cigarette." 

"Gertrude !"  cried  Tiny,  "do  behave  yourself." 
133 


The  Colossus 

Gertrude  dropped  her  wraps  in  a  heap  and 
stood  up  with  outstretched  arms. 

"Kill  me,  Tiny,  but  I  can't  behave  myself.  It's 
quite  impossible  at  times :  who  knows  that  better 
than  you?" 

"I  don't,"  said  Tiny  with  much  indignation. 

But  Gertrude  paid  no  attention. 

"I've  fallen  in  love  with  Zohrab.  I  shall  at- 
tach him  to  my  train.  I  shall  drag  him  at  my 
chariot  wheels.  I  am  sure  he  adores  me.  Tiny, 
wasn't  it  obvious  ?" 

"It  was  very  obvious  that  I  shall  have  to  re- 
move you  by  force  into  Europe,"  said  Sir 
George,  laughing. 

Gertrude  laughed  too. 

"My  dear,  dear  George,  I  do  pity  you  when 
you  suddenly  remember  to  recollect  not  to  for- 
get for  one  minute  that  you  were  some  years  ago 
my  beloved  guardian.  But,  as  I  was  saying,  Mr. 
Hinton,  it  is  now  all  over  with  me.  The  end  has 
come.  I  shall  remove  your  obstacle  by  setting 
him  up  as  my  manager  at  Stellenbosch.  He  can 
enter  Cape  politics,  poor  fellow!  and  I'll  allow 
him  to  import  Egyptian  cigarettes." 

She  paused  breathlessly.  But  it  was  only  to 
take  breath. 

"And  how's  the  Great  Juju;  the  Cape  Fetich; 
the  Grinding  Glacier ;  the  Panjandrum  ?  Has  he 
134 


The  Colossus 

gone  to  bed  worn  out  with  dancing,  till  the  polit- 
ical gunpowder  runs  out  of  his  heels?  And 
Where's  Sam  Romney?" 

Sam  entered  the  room  glowing  with  extreme 
joy.    He  held  a  trombone  in  his  hand. 

"Oh,  dear,  blow  it,  blow  it,  do !"  shrieked  Ger- 
trude. 

"I  did  just  now,"  said  Sam  with  much  pride; 
"I  got  the  most  fearful  yell  out  of  it.  But  now 
it  won't.  It's  a  confoundedly  obstinate  instru- 
ment." 

He  put  it  to  his  mouth  and  turned  red  and 
purple  like  a  sunset  on  the  veldt.  Gertrude 
thought  so. 

"Oh,  you  big  angel,  you  are  like  the  setting 
sun.    Let  me  try." 

Sam  let  her  try.    But  she  handed  it  back. 

"Take  it;  it  will  blow  my  head  off.  Please 
make  a  noise." 

"Hang  it!"  said  Sir  George,  "don't,  Romney, 
don't — you  will  make  us  unpopular." 

"Nonsense !"  cried  Romney ;  "here,  you  try  it. 
I'm  the  most  popular  man  here." 

"You  can  blow  your  own  trumpet,  at  any 
rate,"  said  Hinton.  "But,  as  every  one  is  mad, 
I'm  going  to  bed.     Come,  Romney." 

"If  I  can  only  make  it  talk  properly  once  more 
I  will,"  said  Sam. 

135 


The  Colossus 

"Then  come  outside." 

And  Gertrude  collapsed. 

"Dear  me,"  she  said  coolly,  "I  believe  I'm  tired." 

She  kissed  Tiny  and  pulled  Bontine's  ear. 

"Good-night,  you  dears,"  she  yawned.  "Call 
me  when  I  get  up." 

But  when  she  got  to  her  room  she  threw  the 
windows  wide  open,  and,  looking  out  across  the 
Nile,  sat  considering  whether  she  had  made  any 
advance  in  her  scheme.  She  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  she  had. 

"I'll  go  through  with  it,"  she  said. 

She  was  that  rather  rare  creature,  a  woman 
with  almost  perfect  nerves  and  strong  physique. 
But  just  now  she  felt  that  some  day  she  might 
be  nervous. 

"I  wonder  I  didn't  box  Zohrab's  ears,"  she 
said.    "Really  I  was  very  near  it." 

But,  then,  Zohrab  was  not  a  European,  and 
people  of  different  civilisations  have  to  give  and 
take.  In  spite  of  Hinton,  Zohrab  was  really 
more  Turk  than  Egyptian.  He  was  enough  of 
the  Turk  to  be  strong ;  enough  of  the  Egyptian 
to  be  weak ;  enough  of  both  to  be  subtle,  but  not 
enough  of  either  to  be  great.  He  had  all  the 
weaknesses  of  both  races.  And,  as  Gertrude 
knew,  she  had  infected  him  with  something 
rather  stronger  than  curiosity. 
136 


The  Colossus 

"I  don't  care,"  said  Gertrude. 

This  remark,  though  murmured  to  the  sea  and 
the  Nile,  was  meant  for  any  social  Jury  of  Dow- 
agers who  might  be  imagined  as  holding  an  in- 
quest upon  a  dead  reputation. 

"It  is  one  satisfaction,"  said  Gertrude,  "that,  if 
I  ever  should  have  to  box  his  ears,  I  am  quite 
strong  enough  to  do  it.  What  does  he  mean  by 
being  an  obstacle  ?" 

She  heard  some  talking  below,  and  presently 
Romney's  laughter  filled  the  air. 

Then  suddenly  a  horrible  uproar,  ending  in 
a  quivering  shriek,  told  that  the  trombone  was 
in  agony. 

"Now  I'll  go  to  bed,"  said  Romney. 

"So  will  I,"  said  Gertrude. 


CHAPTER  XII 

If  the  world-relations  of  Eustace  Loder  were 
complex,  his  relations  with  the  mass  of  English- 
men were  almost  sweetly  simple.  He  was  like  a 
member  of  Parliament  for  a  county  where  oppo- 
sition is  useless  and  not  attempted.  For  a  nation 
in  the  mass  is  forever  a  childlike  constituency, 
and  is  most  happy  when  it  can  get  a  chance  of 
hero-worship  combined  with  simple  faith.  Loder 
gave  the  people,  in  spite  of  his  mistakes,  a  feeling 
of  confidence  that  on  the  whole  he  was  to  be 
trusted,  and  that  he  was  doing  the  right  thing. 
This  allowed  them  to  attend  to  their  business  in 
peace.    They  asked  nothing  better. 

But  it  is  a  tradition  among  the  ruling  classes 
that  the  People  must  not  know  everything.  And 
those  who  climb  among  the  rulers  are  soon  in- 
fected with  the  same  theory,  which  is  really  a 
remnant  of  purely  dynastic  diplomacy.  So  what 
Loder  was  really  doing  in  Egypt  was  hidden 
from  the  Many.  And  even  the  Few  were  not 
sure.    The  newspapers  said  what  they  were  told. 

They    said    the    Transcontinental    Telegraph 
Line  was  his  main  object. 
138 


The  Colossus 

They  said  he  was  going  to  make  a  Soudan 
Chartered  Company,  and  turn  all  Nubia  into 
"Gordonia  Limited." 

They  said  he  was  there  out  of  curiosity,  or 
for  his  health. 

They  said  he  came  home  to  England  purely  and 
simply  about  the  Railway  extension  to  the  Lakes. 

But  that  there  was  anything  like  an  interna- 
tional intrigue  about  the  railway  from  Wady 
Haifa  to  Khartoum,  and  thence  South  to  the 
Lakes,  was  for  a  long  time  hidden  from  them. 
Perhaps  it  was  as  well,  for  there  was  still  much 
chance  of  failure  in  spite  of  Loder,  and  in  spite 
of  all  which  stood  behind  him. 

To  tell  the  truth,  he  often  and  often  got  a 
little  hopeless.  Not  hopeless  in  the  sense  of  giv- 
ing in  altogether,  but  hopeless  on  the  point  of 
Time.  And  Time  was  the  essence  of  the  Contract 
he  had  made  with  his  own  soul.  To  sow  seed 
was  not  his  line.  He  insisted  on  crops.  His 
mind  was  a  forcing-house.  He  yearned  for  re- 
sults ;  but  if  he  could  get  ten  per  cent,  out  of  Fate 
he  would  not  spoil  his  work  because  it  did  not 
yield  twenty.  Ten  per  cent,  now  was  better  than 
twenty  to-morrow.     Only  there  must  be  results. 

Now,  when  results  were  so  near,  and  yet  so 
far,  he  was  tempted  to  turn  aside  to  something, 
to  anything  that  he  could  do.  Only  his  pride 
139 


The  Colossus 

of  perseverance,  strong  alike  in  him  and  his 
nation,  prevented  him  doing  so.  Sometimes 
those  who  worked  with  him  had  a  difficulty  in 
preventing  him  putting  everything  on  one  cast  of 
the  dice.    He  was  inclined  to  say : 

"Let  them  know  in  England  just  what  it  is  I 
want." 

But  the  United  Wisdoms  cried  out  that  failure 
after  saying  so  would  be  an  awful  rebuff  to  Eng- 
land. There  are  always  people  who  will  take  a 
kick  in  private. 

"And  you  must  remember,"  said  a  certain  Cab- 
inet Minster,  "that  having  had  our  turn-up  with 
Germany  with  some  success,  we  must  work  with 
them.  To  carry  this  through  by  a  coup  de  main 
will  infuriate  Turkey.  And  if  we  put  Germany 
into  the  position  of  having  to  quarrel  with  us  or 
with  the  Sultan,  whom  the  Emperor  has  been 
so  assiduously  courting  in  view  of  the  rotting  of 
the  Triple  Alliance,  we  shall  be  bad  world  poli- 
ticians." 

They  hinted  to  him  that  Africa  was  not  the 
World. 

"Who  the  devil  said  it  was?"  growled  Loder. 
"But  if  you  had  some  one  in  China,  for  instance, 
like  me  in  Africa,  you  would  do  better." 

It  was  in  such  matters  that  Eustace  Loder 
showed  his  limitations.  He  did  at  times  forget 
140 


The  Colossus 

that  Africa,  if  not  the  World,  was  certainly  not 
even  the  Empire.  Having  had  such  a  handful 
in  the  Dark  Continent  sometimes  blinded  him  to 
world-politics.  But  he  never  actively  resented  it 
when  he  was  reminded  that  this  was  so.  It  is 
doubtful  if  he  resented  it  at  all  after  an  hour's 
quiet  contemplation. 

"After  all,  there's  no  cash  in  retaliation,"  he 
once  said  to  a  man  who  was  meditating  a  right- 
eous but  uncertain  revenge. 

That  he  should  say  "cash"  in  a  connection  such 
as  this  connoted  rather  a  concrete  fashion  of  ex- 
pressing himself  than  the  inference  always  drawn 
by  his  enemies  that  he  weighed  everything  against 
gold. 

And  now  he  began  to  wonder  whether  there 
was  any  "cash"  in  his  remaining  in  Egypt.  He 
meditated  an  Exodus.  But,  nevertheless,  two 
days  after  the  ball  at  which  Gertrude  had  flown 
falcons  at  the  pigeon  Zohrab,  he  determined  to 
see  Cazoule. 

"May  as  well  have  another  shot  at  him," 
grumbled  Loder.  "He  thinks  so  far  that  we  are 
the  under-dog.    And  so  we  are  in  some  ways." 

He  was  half  melancholy  until  he  met  the  man, 

and  then,  after  some  minutes'  mental  fumbling 

for  his  weapons,  he  rose  to  the  occasion.     If 

skill   at  the   first   onset   were   always   necessary 

141 


The  Colossus 

for  victory,  Eustace  Loder  would  have  rarely 
scored  a  point.  But  he  always  warmed  to  the 
game. 

They  met  in  a  room  lent  to  both  of  them,  so  to 
speak,  by  the  Khedive's  Financial  Adviser.  It 
was  neutral  ground. 

There  could  have  been  no  greater  contrast  than 
that  betwen  Loder  and  Monsieur  de  Cazoule, 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  certain  Parisian 
Houses  of  Finance.  For  Loder  was  big  and 
heavy,  and  carelessly  dressed,  while  Cazoule 
was,  though  fairly  tall,  thin  and  dapper.  His 
eyes,  too,  were  quick  and  bright,  while  Loder's 
were  like  a  sleeping  eagle's,  with  a  kind  of  mental 
nictitating  membrane  drawn  over  them.  At 
most  times  his  eye  was  cold  and  gray,  and  when 
he  was  displeased,  but  not  violently  angry,  it 
had  an  easterly  atmosphere  about  it.  At  any 
time  it  was  difficult  to  read  his  thouughts :  a 
gambler  would  have  suggested  that  Poker  should 
be  his  game. 

Cazoule,  who  was  certainly  a  man  of  alert  in- 
telligence, had  some  natural  disposition  to  under- 
rate his  opponent.  A  Frenchman  usually  does, 
and  the  Parisian  estimate  of  Loder  was  not  very 
high.  Oddly  enough,  however,  many  French- 
men came  nearer  to  some  truth  about  him  than 
the  English  themselves.  They  did  feel  that  he 
142 


The  Colossus 

represented  John  Bull,  whereas  none  but  a  few  in 
England  would  have  acquiesced  in  seeing  him  re- 
place the  typical  squire  as  complacent  self-carica- 
ture in  the  weekly  cartoons. 

And  then  Cazoule  had,  as  he  imagined,  beaten 
Loder  at  his  own  game  of  intrigue — in  a  game, 
too,  where  all  the  visible  cards  favored  his  op- 
ponent. He  believed  that  a  check  was  check- 
mate, and  now  only  anticipated  that  Loder  was 
actuated  by  the  "win,  tie,  or  wrangle"  spirit, 
which  indeed  is  more  characteristic  of  the  Kelt. 
He  felt  complacent,  and  regarded  his  adversary 
rather  benignly. 

Cazoule  spoke  English  without  clan,  but  with 
the  utmost  accuracy.  This  was  as  well,  as 
Loder's  French  was  a  negligible  quality. 

They  began  with  the  "Salute,"  and  made  their 
compliments.  Cazoule  was  fluent;  Loder's  voice 
went  up  and  down :  it  was  a  head  voice  and  then 
a  grumble.  Cazoule  said  he  was  absolutely  de- 
lighted to  see  him  again. 

Loder  said,  "Grumph,  humph — yes !"  and  so 
on.  It  seemed  like  a  man  fencing  with  an  over- 
coat on,  while  his  opponent  is  stripped  to  the 
buff.  Nevertheless,  this  clumsiness  often  stood 
him  in  good  stead. 

"The  last  time  I  saw  you,"  said  Loder,  with 
one  elbow  on  the  table,  while  his  gray  eye 
14.3 


The  Colossus 

v/andered  in  an  embarrassed  manner,  "we — we 
talked  about  this  Oppenheimer." 

Cazoule  bowed  from  the  other  side  of  the  table. 

"Yes?" 

"I  thought  about  what  you  said,"  the  apparent- 
ly crushed  and  dispirited  Loder  remarked  husk- 
ily, "and " 

Cazoule  brightened. 

"You  have  determined  to  make  your  apologies 
to  him?"  he  suggested  alertly. 

Loder  shrugged  his  shoulders,  and  thrust  out  a 
gloomy  lip. 

"And  I  have  determined  that  under  the  circum- 
stances he  must  stay  in." 

Cazoule  lifted  an  eyebrow. 

"But,  on  the  contrary,  Mr.  Loder,  we  have  de- 
cided that  Monsieur  Oppenheimer  and  those 
whom  he  represents  cannot  come  in  where  we 
are." 

Loder  nodded,  but  seemed  rather  more  awake, 

"You  think  so  to-day,  but  to-morrow  you  may 
reverse  your  opinion.  There  was  a  strong  ten- 
dency among  the  other  side  to  suggest  that  you 
should  not  come  in." 

Cazoule  smiled  complacently. 

"We  are  in,"  he  murmured. 

"We  are  in  Egypt,"  said  Loder  sharply. 

Cazoule  looked  at  him. 
144 


The  Colossus 

"Will  it  suit  you  for  us  to  stay  ?"  asked  Loder. 

"I  represent  Finance,  not  Politics,"  replied 
Cazoule  easily. 

"But  you  will  bring  Politics  in,"  said  Loder; 
"you  don't  seem  to  see  how  near  a  thing  it  is." 

"An  English  Protectorate?  But  we  are  easy 
on  that  point." 

Loder  grunted,  and  put  both  elbows  on  the 
table. 

"Your  nation  is  so  official,  monsieur,  that  you 
never  seem  to  recognise  that  we  are  less  official. 
You  can't  understand,  it  seems,  that  there  are 
some,  not  in  official  positions,  who  can  do  more 
to  bring  about  a  Protectorate  here  than  the  men 
your  diplomatists  deal  with  in  England.  You 
may  force  our  hands." 

Cazoule  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"You  will  be  glad  to  come  in  on  any  terms  yet," 
said  Loder.  "I  am  quite  ready  to  yield  to  my 
own  side  to  a  certain  extent,  but  sooner  than  let 
this  scheme  be  hung  up,  I  will  undertake  to  force 
the  Egyptian  Question  forward  myself.  You 
seem  to  take  short-sighted  views." 

"And  how  ?"  asked  Cazoule. 

"When  your  people  were  so  pleased  that  we 

had  to  repay  that  money  lent  by  the  Caisse,"  said 

Loder,  "it  seemed  a  good  business,  but  what  does 

it  look  like  now,  what  standing  have  the  nations 

lo  145 


The  Colossus 

in  the  Soudan  ?    Your  power,  such  as  it  is,  stops 
at  Wady  Haifa." 

Cazoule  winced,  but  hid  it. 

"It  matters  nothing,"  he  retorted;  "the  foun- 
tain of  power  is  here." 

"Yes,  in  barracks,"  said  Loder,  as  sharp  as 
cold  steel. 

And  this  time  Cazoule  winced  openly. 

"You  pretend  this  is  not  a  matter  of  politics," 
went  on  Loder,  "but  we  don't.  It  is  a  matter  of 
politics — entirely  a  matter  of  politics.  You  op- 
pose us  openly  and  in  secret,  though  we  offer 
you  unexceptionable  terms.  You  say  you  repre- 
sent Finance,  but  you  represent  more.  If  you 
were  only  here  in  the  interests  of  Finance,  you 
would  close  with  me  instead  of  waiting  till  to- 
morrow. Do  you  think  the  Future  is  on  your 
side?" 

"You  can  get  us  in  by  refusing  to  admit 
the  Germans,"  said  Cazoule,  ignoring  the  ques- 
tion. 

"Are  you  aware,"  asked  Loder,  "that  only  the 
other  day  the  question  was  raised  of  deposing 
the  Khedive?" 

"Where?" 

"In  London,"  said  Loder.  "And  you  may  be 
surprised  to  know  that  those  who  are  working 
with  me  opposed  it." 

146 


The  Colossus 

Cazoule  took  half  a  minute  to  consider  whether 
he  should  be  surprised  or  not. 

"I  am  not  surprised,"  he  declared  presently. 

"Why?" 

"Because  you  might  have  got  a  worse  one," 
said  Cazoule,  who  that  time  scored  a  point. 

"If  his  weakness  served  us,  it  also  serves  you 
in  this  case,"  retorted  Loder,  with  contracted 
brows.  "And  remember  that  if  he  goes  we  can 
do  some  selecting.  And  we  might  pick  some  one 
who  did  not  care  for  your  special  friend  in  the 
Household." 

This  was  the  first  time  Loder  had  shown  his 
knowledge  of  the  tool  Cazoule  had  employed. 

"My  special  friend?"  cried  the  Frenchman 
questioningly,  "who  may  he  be?" 

"Zohrab  Bey." 

Cazoule  sneered  politely. 

"He  did  me  the  honor  to  quarrel  with  me  last 
year,"  he  said. 

"In  January,  if  I  remember,"  suggested  Loder 
with  his  best  Oxford  manner. 

And  then  Cazoule  did  show  surprise. 

"How "  he  stammered. 

"For  just  then  we  encountered  unexpected  ob- 
stacles," said  Loder.  "So  you  will  excuse  me  if 
I  do  not  regard  the  quarrel  as  serious." 

Cazoule,  on  recovering  his  equanimity,  which 
147 


The  Colossus 

he  did  very  swiftly,  naturally  enough  regarded 
this  as  a  guess  on  Loder's  part.  He  smiled  most 
amiably. 

"If  it  pleases  you,  let  us  regard  poor  Zohrab 
Bey  as  my  friend.  Indeed,  I  am  ready  to  be  rec- 
onciled with  him  at  any  time,"  he  cried,  with  an 
air  of  benevolence. 

Loder  frowned  again. 

"Come,"  he  said,  "we  play  with  each  other. 
What  do  you  expect  to  get  out  of  this  if  you 
balk  me?" 

"We  do  not  hope  to  balk  you,"  said  Cazoule ; 
"we  are  convinced  you  will  get  through.  We 
only  want  our  terms.  In  the  end  we  shall  get 
them." 

He  was  well  aware  that  Loder  was  a  man  of 
action,  and  that  Time  was  the  essence  of  Loder's 
contract  with  himself.  He  relied  more  on  that 
than  anything  else.  But  as  he  did  not  know  that 
by  other  contracts  Loder  could  not  rid  himself 
of  Oppenheimer,  he  was  still  in  the  dark.  And 
Loder  could  not  see  his  way  to  making  him  be- 
lieve it.  If  Cazoule  discovered  Loder  was  bound 
by  contracts  in  any  way,  it  might  be  another  en- 
gine in  his  hands.  And  Loder  wished  the  French- 
man to  think  Time  was  on  the  side  of  the  Oppo- 
sition. 

"In  a  year  or  so  you  will  be  sorry,"  said  Loder 
148 


The  Colossus 

gravely.    "We  can  afford  to  wait.    We  can  work 
from  either  end." 

But  to  Cazoule  it  appeared  that  Loder  could 
not  wait.  Every  moment  he  expected  that  Loder 
would  come  down.  It  was  the  greatest  surprise 
to  him  when  the  big  Englishman  rose.  For  a 
moment  he  thought  that  Loder  would  sit  down 
again. 

But  the  Chief  held  out  his  hand. 

"I'm  glad  to  have  had  the  talk,"  grunted  Loder. 
His  eye  was  again  of  the  vaguest  blue-gray. 
"But  if  you  want  to  see  me  I  shall  be  in  Cairo  for 
a  week  or  two  before  I  go  to  Berlin  and  London. 
I  may  go  to  Constantinople  first." 

That  made  Cazoule  think  a  little.  To  Con- 
stantinople and  Berlin !  And  the  German  Em- 
peror had  been  in  Palestine.  It  was  at  least  pos- 
sible that  a  scheme  might  be  come  at  which  would 
reconcile  Turkey  to  an  English  Protectorate. 

"Good-bye,"  said  Cazoule;  "it  is  always  a 
pleasure  to  meet  you,  Mr.  Loder." 

But  when  he  went  away,  Cazoule,  after  the 
manner  of  his  nation,  soon  fell  back  into  seeing 
Things  as  They  Ought  to  Be  from  a  French 
standpoint. 

Loder,  on  the  other  hand,  saw  Things  as  They 
Are,  and  he  saw  them  in  a  dry  light.    And  Caz- 
oule was  one  of  the  Things. 
149 


The  Colossus 

"I  don't  think  so  much  of  Loder  as  I  did," 
said  Cazoule. 

"I  think  more  of  the  Frenchman  than  I  did," 
said  Loder. 

And  once  more  he  sat  down  before  this  San 
Sebastian. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Though  Gertrude  had  certainly  gone  further 
in  flirtation  with  Zohrab  Bey,  whose  character 
"could  not  be  recommended,"  than  she  herself 
approved,  it  was  only  after  this  flirtation  that 
she  began  to  see  with  some  clearness  what  her 
real  object  was  and  how  it  could  possibly  be 
attained.  But  she  found  one  thing  wanting  still. 
Supposing  she  were  able  to  discredit  Zohrab  in 
the  eyes  of  his  Royal  Master,  by  her  own  simple 
unsupported  word,  there  seemed,  according  to 
her  scheme,  a  great  possibility  of  doing  it.  Yet 
was  that  at  all  likely  ? 

She  was  one  of  Loder's  party;  she  was  his 
friend ;  they  were  all  there  for  the  same  purpose. 
Who  would  believe  what  she  said?  To  be  be- 
lieved, she  must  have  corroboration,  and  how 
was  such  support  to  be  obtained?  Her  unaided 
intelligence  suggested  to  her  the  most  reasonable 
chance  of  procuring  it.  If  Zohrab  was  in  a  posi- 
tion of  confidence  and  power,  it  was  obvious  that 
he  must  have  enemies.  What  she  had  heard  of 
the  Orient,  what  she  knew  of  the  Cape,  assured 
her  of  so  much.  But  if  he  had  enemies,  which 
151 


The  Colossus 

was  the  one  most  hkely  to  supplant  him?  If  there 
was  one  standing  by  the  Khedivial  throne  ready 
to  take  his  place,  such  an  one  was  obviously  the 
man  most  likely  to  be  credited  when  he  carried  a 
tale  of  treachery  to  his  Master.  Who  was  this 
man? 

She  ran  to  Bontine  for  information,  and  went 
to  work  in  her  usual  airy  way,  which  was  apt  to 
lead  any  one,  who  did  not  suspect  her  motives,  to 
imagine  the  fluffiest  feminine  curiosity  was  be- 
hind her  simple  little  questions. 

"George,  I  suppose  everybody  is  everybody's 
enemy  in  Cairo  and  such  places,  isn't  he?"  she 
demanded. 

George  considered  the  matter.  His  internal 
eye  was  on  the  Cape. 

"In  all  places.  From  some  points  of  view," 
he  replied  abstractedly. 

"But  especially  in  Courts  and  Palaces  and 
Yildiz  Kiosks  and  such  places?" 

"I  suppose  so,"  said  Bontine. 

"Then  who's  Zohrab's  enemy?" 

"I  didn't  know  he  had  one,"  said  George  casu- 
ally. 

"You  said  he  must  have." 

"I  said  I  supposed  so.  Or  that  was  the  infer- 
ence. There's  always  some  one  wanting  some  one 
else's  billet." 

152 


The  Colossus 

Gertrude  yawned,  and  said  that  men  of  all  sorts 
were  horrid. 

"A  nasty  intriguing  lot,"  said  Gertrude.  "But 
I'm  interested  in  that  sweet  little  butercup  Zoh- 
rab.  Do  you  know,  he's  really  rather  clever,  I 
should  think,  George." 

"Hum,"  said  George,  who  was  thinking  of  go- 
ing back  to  the  Cape. 

Things  did  not  progress  as  they  should,  and 
he  had  no  overpowering  love  for  Egypt. 

"Well,  you  are  disagreeable!"  cried  Gertrude. 
"Would  you  like  me  to  talk  about  lace  ?" 

"Talk  about  what  you  like,  my  dear,"  said 
George. 

"Then  tell  me  who  you  think  is  most  likely  to 
be  Zohrab's  successor." 

As  Bontine  was  really  in  a  mood  of  abstraction, 
he  heard  the  question  and  did  not  hear  it.  But, 
nevertheless,  he  answered  it  presently.  He  re- 
membered having  heard  Loder  say  that  if  Zoh- 
rab  went  his  probable  successor  would  be  more 
easy  to  deal  with. 

"I  should  think  it  would  be  Achmet  Pasha," 
said  George. 

"Oh,  dear,"  yawned  Gertrude ;  and  having  got 
what  she  wanted,  she  rose  and  denounced  George 
as  the  worst  companion  in  the  world. 

"And  how  they  can  say  you  are  such  excellent 
153 


The  Colossus 

company  at  the  Cape,  I  don't  know.  But,  then, 
you  men  never  trouble  to  be  really  nice  unless 
you  want  something.  And  I've  no  concessions  to 
grant." 

She  patted  him  on  the  shoulder,  all  the  same,  as 
she  went  away  to  hunt  for  Hinton.  She  did  not 
find  him,  as  he  was  working  with  Loder  in  the 
Chief's  private  room,  so  she  fussed  and  fumed  till 
after  lunch,  when  she  managed  to  get  the  Secre- 
tary to  herself  for  five  minutes. 

"Tell  me  who  Achmct  Pasha  is  ?"  she  asked. 

"He  is — Achmet  Pasha,"  said  Hinton  mock- 
ingly.   "And  he's  a  man,  of  sorts " 

"And  is  he  a  friend  of  Zohrab's?" 

"A  very  dear  friend,"  said  Emory  cheerfully — 
"one  of  those  dear  friends  who  would  enjoy  cut- 
ting his  throat." 

"I  suppose  he  wants  Zohrab's  place,  then  ?  Why 
don't  you  help  him?    He's  Anglophile,  isn't  he?" 

"They  say  so,"  said  Hinton ;  "but  really  I  don't 
know  anything  about  him." 

He  tried  to  get  away,  but  Gertrude  would  not 
allow  it. 

"Just  you  tell  me,  now.  Would  Achmet  have 
Zohrab's  place  if  Zohrab  was  kicked  out  ?" 

"Possibly,"  said  Hinton.  "And  I  wish  you 
wouldn't  worry  yourself  and  me  about  such 
things." 

154 


The  Colossus 

Gertrude  laughed  genially. 

"Are  you  afraid  my  poor  little  brain  will  go? 
You  don't  know  how  interesting  you  all  are !  But 
you  would  be  much  more  interesting  to  me  if  you 
were  nice !" 

Hinton  looked  gloomy. 

"And  if  ever  I  try  to  be  nice,  you  get  up  and 
go,  or  say  bitter  things.  It's  just  as  if  I  tried 
to  kiss  your  hand  and  you  boxed  my  ears." 

"Oh,  no,  I  wouldn't." 

So  Hinton  kissed  her  hand. 

And  boxing  his  ears,  she  went  away  laughing, 
with  her  hand  over  her  shoulder.  Hinton  felt  as 
if  he  were  getting  on  with  her.  As  indeed  he 
v/ould  have  done,  had  it  not  been  for  Eustace 
Loder.  And,  after  all,  he  knew  Loder  better  than 
she  did. 

"Ho,  ho!"  said  Gertrude,  "so  Achmet  would 
get  his  place.  Then,  certainly  Achmet  loves  him. 
And  most  certainly  Achmet  would  help  me.  li 
I  asked  him." 

She  walked  to  and  fro  on  the  terrace. 

"I  won't  ask  him." 

She  walked  again  on  the  terrace. 

"I  will  ask  him." 

She  picked  a  rose,  and,  plucking  its  petals  out 
one  by  one,  said,  "I  will"  and  "I  won't,"  with 
each  alternate  petal. 

155 


The  Colossus 

"Oh,  it's  coming  near,"  she  cried,  when  the 
poor  rose  was  very  ragged. 

"I  will,"  said  one  petal. 

"I  won't,"  cried  another. 

"I  will,"  said  the  last  but  one. 

"I  won't,"  said  the  last  one. 

"That  settles  it,"  cried  Gertrude.    "I  will." 

And  during  the  ensuing  week  she  constantly 
went  out  driving  by  herself.  She  stayed  away 
for  hours,  and  Tiny,  shaking  herself  together, 
considered  it  was  her  duty  to  make  some  inquiries 
as  to  how  her  husband's  sometime  ward  disposed 
of  her  time. 

"You  go  out  a  good  deal,"  said  Tiny. 

Gertrude  yawned,  and  admitted  the  fact. 

"What  do  you  do  ?"  inquired  the  gentle  dragon. 

"I  am  studying  native  life  and  character,"  said 
Gertrude;  and  she  added  to  herself:  "So  I  am; 
I  like  to  speak  the  truth." 

"Where  do  you  do  it?" 

"In  the  Mooskei,  the  native  quarter,  you  dear !" 
said  Gertrude. 

But  Tiny  shook  her  head. 

"You've  no  confidence  in  me,  and  don't  tell  the 
truth.  Yesterday  you  were  away  four  hours. 
Don't  teil  me  you  were  in  the  Mooskei  all  the 
time." 

"I  wasn't,"  cried  the  Intriguer. 
156 


The  Colossus 

"Then  where  were  you  ?" 

"In  my  new  native  house,"  said  Gertrude. 
"Didn't  you  know  I  had  taken  a  palace  in  a  back- 
street,  where  I  live  and  wear  native  garments, 
and  look  most  splendidly  Oriental  ?" 

"No,  I  didn't  know  it,  and  now  I  do  know  it,  I 
don't  beheve  it,"  replied  Tiny.  "I  can't  under- 
stand you,  Gertrude.  Why  do  you  go  out  so 
much?" 

"Why — why?  Because  since  George — dear 
George! — came  I  can't  get  you  to  come.  That's 
why.  And  I'm  not  going  to  go  melancholy  mad 
staring  at  the  Nile." 

"Would  you  like  to  go  away,  then  ?" 

"Not  for  worlds,"  said  Gertrude.  "I'm  too 
much  occupied  in  learning  things." 

"I  give  you  up !"  cried  Tiny. 

"That's  right,  dear,"  said  Gertrude.  "Don't 
you  have  anything  more  to  do  with  me.  I'm 
really  afraid  my  pristine  respectability  is  getting 
tarnished.     And  it's  all  through  Eustace  Loder." 

She  spoke  with  an  odd  viciousness.  Certainly 
the  Great  Fetich  was  responsible  for  the  later 
developments  in  her  character.  And  there 
are  many  developments,  natural  enough  in 
themselves,  which  do  not  wholly  please  women. 
They  are  so  apt  as  girls  to  consider  any  given 
stage  as  final.  Further  growth,  or  even  fur- 
157 


The  Colossus 

ther  self-discoveries,  seem  to  partake  of  im- 
morality. 

"I'm  going  out  now,"  said  Gertrude.  "Will 
you  come?" 

"George  wants  me." 

"Didn't  I  say  so!"  cried  the  younger  woman. 
"You  are  really  the  prettiest  piece  of  ivy,  are  you 
not?" 

Tiny  looked  at  her  with  some  pity.  So  Ger- 
trude fled  with  a  hardened  heart,  and  took  a 
carriage  and  drove  into  the  city  of  Cairo,  which 
hummed  like  a  hive  and  smelt  to  heaven. 

And  as  she  drove  through  the  older  quarter 
of  the  city,  she  dreamed,  and  the  newer  civilisa- 
tion seemed  for  a  while  to  fall  away  from  her. 
There  was  something  peculiarly  and  terribly  fas- 
cinating to  her  in  the  mingled  swarthy  crowd 
that  filled  the  narrow  streets.  There  was  a  fierce 
and  stately  Arab  of  the  desert  with  his  pictu- 
resque dress;  here  a  darker  Soudanese,  and  then 
again  a  Persian  in  his  sheepskin  hat,  which 
marked  him  to  the  orthodox  Sunni  as  a  cursed 
Shiah  who  thought  more  of  Ali  than  the  Prophet 
himself.  Then  she  saw  the  women,  veiled  so 
closely,  and  knew  that  they  looked  on  her,  with 
no  veil,  as  something  brazen,  something  almost 
indecent.    She  was  one  of  these  accursed  English. 

But  then  she  was  a  woman :  and  being  a  woman 
158 


The  Colossus 

niade  her  in  one  sense  of  no  race  at  all.  Her 
very  patriotism  was  a  matter  of  chance.  For 
women  are  nearer  of  kin  than  men  all  the  world 
over.  They  have  diverged  less,  are  more  primi- 
tive, and  their  later  growths  are  never  deeply 
rooted.  In  the  heat  and  turmoil  of  this  ancient 
world  of  Cairo  Gertrude  reverted  to  a  more 
primeval  stock.  She  felt  so  unlike  herself.  And 
yet  she  knew  that  what  she  felt  then  was  nearer 
the  reality  than  what  she  seemed  with  her  own 
people. 

After  a  long  drive  she  dismissed  her  carriage. 
But  she  promptly  took  another,  and  drove  back 
to  the  verge  of  the  European  quarter.  She 
alighted  in  a  quiet  street,  and  bade  the  driver 
wait.  Opening  the  door  with  her  own  key,  she 
entered  a  garden  through  a  door  in  a  wall,  and 
was  af  once  out  of  the  world  of  the  West.  For 
round  her  roses  bloomed,  and  in  the  centre  of  the 
wild  and  ragged  garden  sprang  a  fountain. 
Upon  the  window  lattices  crept  flowering  jas- 
mines; underneath  them  shone  glossy  orange- 
trees,  with  ripe  and  ripening  golden  fruit;  mi- 
mosas of  the  slenderest  growth  sprang  heaven- 
ward, while  over  all  towered  one  single  stately 
palm. 

She  was  received  by  her  own  servants,  who 
had  been  hired  for  her  by  the  agent  through 
159 


The  Colossus 

whom  she  had  taken  the  house.  One  was  an  old 
Itahan  woman,  who  spoke  French  with  the  worst 
ItaHan  accent,  and  answered  everything  with, 
"Tres  bi-eng,  Madame,"  and  the  other  a  Soudan- 
ese boy,  who  knew  twenty  words  of  French  and 
ten  of  EngHsh. 

"If  the  gentleman  who  was  here  the  other  day 
comes  to-day,  I  will  see  him,"  said  Gertrude  in 
French. 

"Tres  bi-eng,  Madame,"  replied  the  withered 
old  woman.  And  she  inquired  when  Madame 
was  coming  to  stay  permanently.  She  assured 
Madame  that  the  rooms  were  now  "parfaitmeng 
propres,"  and  went  on  in  a  perfect  flood  to  enu- 
merate everything  that  had  been  done. 

"All  right,  that'll  do,"  said  Gertrude  in  Eng- 
lish. 

"Ah,  sicuro,"  cried  the  old  woman,  falling  back 
in  her  turn  on  her  old  tongue.  And  Gertrude 
went  in  through  a  latticed  window  opening  on 
the  terrace  just  above  the  garden  wilderness. 
She  drew  her  gloves  off,  and,  sitting  down, 
smoked  a  cigarette.  She  rarely  smoked,  but  now 
it  appeared  a  correct  thing.  It  soothed  her  nerves, 
and  seemed  in  character.  For  in  the  background 
of  her  mind  she  was  not  sure  whether  she  was 
acting  or  being  her  real,  real  self.  A  woman's  life 
is  so  artificial  at  any  time,  that  breaking  from 
1 60 


The  Colossus 

what  is  made  sacred  by  convention  can  easily 
appear  the  very  convention  of  the  drama. 

If  the  tobacco  soothed  her  a  Uttle,  she  cer- 
tainly needed  it,  for  though  her  nerves  would 
have  appeared  steady  enough  to  most  women's, 
they  were  not  steady  to  herself.  She  seemed  in 
a  dream,  and  wofidered  how  she  came  to  be  in  it. 
Her  vision  was  a  dream  of  the  dawn ;  she  was  at 
once  awake  and  asleep.  What  was  she  doing? 
Was  she  doing  anything,  or  was  this  the  merest 
folly,  the  most  childish  piece  of  acting  she  had 
indulged  in  since  her  childhood?  For  as  she 
sat  there  in  the  darkened  Oriental  room,  and 
heard  the  plashing  of  the  fountain,  her  own 
people,  Eustace  Loder,  and  even  her  old  self, 
seemed  so  far  away  from  her.  In  her  illusion 
she  perceived  the  illusion  of  life.  What  a  strange 
thing  it  was  that  people  lived  at  all,  that  they 
wanted  to  live  and  to  fight,  that  they  had  ambi- 
tions, loved  and  hated ! 

So  deep  was  she  in  reverie  that  she  woke  with 
a  start  when  she  heard  old  Assunta  speak  in  the 
garden. 

"Yes,  Madame  was  in,"  said  Assunta,  and  as 
Gertrude  looked  out  of  the  window,  she  saw  the 
tall  figure  of  Achmet  Pasha  following  the  servant. 

This  was  the  second  time  she  had  met  him. 
There  had  been  no  difficulty  about  the  first  meet- 
n  i6r 


The  Colossus 

ing.  The  merest  hint  that  a  possible  powerful 
enemy  of  Zohrab's  needed  Achmet's  help  had 
been  sufficient  to  draw  him.  For  if  the  Pasha 
had  the  Oriental  gift  of  waiting  in  peace,  he  had 
learnt  sufficient  of  the  western  world  to  neglect 
no  possible  chance  while  trusting  to  Providence. 
And  after  meeting  Gertrude  Broughton,  the 
pleasure  of  renewed  active  intrigue  appealed  to 
him.  He  imagined  possible  developments  which 
might  be  of  advantage,  even  if  he  and  his  new 
ally  failed  in  the  scheme  which  they  were  now 
elaborating  together.  It  appeared  that  this  Eng- 
lish woman  had  money.  It  was  always  on  the 
cards  that  he  might  get  some  of  it.  And  she  was 
a  very  pretty  woman  as  well.  It  was  an  interest- 
ing game. 

"Good-afternoon,  Pasha,"  said  Gertrude.  "Shall 
we  speak  English  ?" 

"As  an  Anglophile,  I  prefer  it,  Madame,"  said 
the  Pasha  politely,  "so  let  it  be  English." 

He  approximated  to  the  Arab  type  rather  than 
to  the  thick-set  sturdy  Ottoman,  and,  like  a  very 
orthodox  Mussulman,  wore  both  beard  and 
moustache.  His  Anglophile  sympathies  did  not 
extend  to  his  beard,  for  that  was  trimmed  to  a 
point. 

"Have  you  thought  over  what  we  suggested 
last  time?"  asked  Gertrude,  who  was  back  again 
162 


The  Colossus 

in  Visionland.  How  came  she  to  be  in  the  Orient 
talking  with  this  Arab? 

"I  have  considered  it  carefully,"  said  Achmet 
slowly.  "And  if  you  will  permit  me  to  smoke 
a  cigarette,  Madame,  I  will  tell  you  what  I 
think." 

Without  waiting  for  permission  he  lighted  a 
cigarette. 

"Can  you  bring  him  here?"  he  asked  abruptly. 

"I  think  so,"  said  Gertrude. 

"How?" 

"That  is  my  affair,"  she  replied  coldly. 

And  Achmet  bowed,  but  looked  at  her  curi- 
ously. 

"Then  I  must  be  here,"  he  said. 

"Outside?" 

"No,  inside,"  said  Achmet.  "And  I  must 
bring  some  one  else,  whom  His  Royal  Highness 
trusts  even  more  than  he  trusts  me,  who  will  be 
able  to  bear  witness  as  to  what  happens." 

Gertrude  nodded. 

"And  have  you  brought  the  undertaking  that, 
in  case  you  replace  him,  you  will  aid  and  not  op- 
pose us  ?"  she  asked. 

Achmet  did  not  answer  for  a  moment. 

"Surely,  Madame,  you  can  trust  me.  It  is 
known  that  I  am  Anglophile — at  least,  to  some 
extent.  If  I  had  chosen  to  sacrifice  my  opin- 
163 


The  Colossus 

ions,  I  might  have  occupied  a  different  position 
now." 

But  Gertrude  had  her  own  conviction  as  to  the 
convictions  of  any  Egyptian. 

"If  I  am  to  go  on  with  this,  I  must  have  your 
written  undertaking,"  she  said.  "I  am  not  alone 
in  this  matter,  or,  of  course,  I  could  trust  you, 
and  those  who  supply  the  money  will  require  it 
of  me.  We  cannot  risk  a  quarter  of  a  million 
francs,  which  we  may  not  get  back,  for  noth- 
ing." 

Achmet  nodded,  but  looked  rather  gloomy. 

"And  what  becomes  of  the  paper  if  we  fail?" 

"It  shall  be  returned  to  you." 

"And  what  guarantee  have  I  of  that  ?" 

"You  have  my  word,"  said  Gertrude  rather 
tartly,  very  naturally  forgetting  that  she  had  just 
declined  to  take  his. 

The  Pasha  smiled  and  stroked  his  beard.  He 
was  not  utterly  devoid  of  humor. 

"Of  course,"  said  Gertrude  hastily,  "I  am  pre- 
pared to  give  you  my  undertaking  that  you  shall 
have  a  hundred  thousand  francs  when  Zohrab 
falls,  whether  you  get  his  place  or  not." 

Achmet  shrugged  his  shoulders,  and  then  rec- 
ognised that  such  a  gesture  was  not  polite.  He 
hastened  to  speak  in  the  gentlest  tones. 

"Would  it  not  be  more  satisfactory  if — if  those 
164 


The  Colossus 

interested  in  the  railway  gave  me  their  guaran- 
tee?" 

"Do  you  think  I  cannot  command  the  money?" 
asked  Gertrude. 

"Certainly  not,"  replied  Achmet,  who  assured- 
ly had  his  doubts;  "but  supposing  you  changed 
your  mind?  I  should  not  be  in  the  position  of 
being  able  to  pursue  you  legally." 

Gertrude  considered  for  a  minute. 

"Can  you  go  to  the  Anglo-German  Bank  to- 
morrow morning?"  she  inquired. 

The  Pasha  bowed  eagerly. 

"Then  meet  me  there  at  ten  o'clock,  and  I  will 
put  a  hundred  thousand  francs  in  a  sealed  en- 
velope, and  before  you  I  will  give  instructions  to 
the  manager  that  the  envelope  is  to  be  given  you 
when  Zohrab  is  disgraced,  if  that  happens  inside 
a  month." 

Achmet's  jaw  dropped. 

"That  would  put  me  in  the  manager's  power, 
Madame." 

"He  is  on  our  side,"  said  Gertrude.  "It  is 
either  that  or  trust  me." 

The  Pasha  took  his  courage  in  both  hands. 

"I  will  trust  you,  Madame." 

"I  think  you  do  right,"  said  Gertrude  sharply. 
"Have  you  then  decided?" 

"I  have  decided,"  cried  Achmet. 
165 


The  Colossus 

''Are  there  any  palace  rumors  that  Zohrab  is 
playing  a  double  game?"  asked  Gertrude  after  a 
pause. 

"Strange  to  say,  there  are  such  rumors,"  re- 
plied the  Pasha  with  an  enigmatic  smile.  "Some 
clever  person  suggested  that  he  has  been  bought 
by  the  English  to  oppose  everything  they  suggest, 
with  a  view  of  forcing  on  an  English  Protecto- 
rate." 

His  smile  said,  "I  am  that  clever  person,"  and 
Gertrude  of  course  understood  him. 

"When  shall  we  arrange  our  coup?"  asked 
the  Pasha,  who  was  much  pleased  with  himself. 

"I  will  let  you  know,"  said  Gertrude.  "It  will 
be  this  week.     May  I  offer  you  some  coffee?" 

She  clapped  her  hands,  and  was  also  much 
pleased  with  herself. 

And  over  the  coffee  they  arranged  certain  de- 
tails of  their  plan. 

But  when  Achmet  Pasha  went  away  he  said  to 
himself : 

"She  is  not  strong  enough  to  do  it." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

There  were  times  when  Gertrude  Broughton 
acted  with  the  decision  and  certainty  of  a  man. 
But  those  were  occasions  when  the  action  re- 
quired lay  only  just  on  the  borders  of  feminine 
use  and  wont.  For  the  first  time  in  her  life  she 
now  found  herself  right  across  the  frontier,  and 
as  she  faced  each  dawn  that  asked  prompt  de- 
cision she  felt  it  was  indeed  a  "cold  day," 

It  was  so  easy  to  go  a  certain  distance;  her 
confidence  and  courage  at  the  outset  marched 
hand  in  hand.  She  had  heard  so  often  that  what 
man  could  do  woman  could  do  also,  provided  she 
had  strength  and  courage,  that  she  forgot  that 
male  and  feminine  experience  differed.  But  now 
she  saw  some  of  the  truth,  and  but  for  obstinacy 
might  have  let  things  go. 

For  one  thing,  she  began  to  be  afraid  of  Ach- 
met.  She  perceived  differences  of  race  which 
made  her  distrust  him  vaguely.  For  a  time  she 
put  this  distrust  down  to  keenness  of  perception. 
She  discovered  presently  that  it  was  nervousness 
at  dealing  with  the  unknown.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  Achmet  Pasha  was  fairly  honest  and  fairly 
167 


The  Colossus 

stupid.  It  had  been  a  matter  of  consideration 
with  the  Chief's  entourage  whether  he  should  be 
used  or  not,  and  he  had  been  finally  put  aside  as 
a  weapon  likely  enough  to  break  in  the  hand. 
But  to  Gertrude  he  represented  mystery  and  the 
Orient.  He  was  romance,  but  not  the  romance 
she  cared  for. 

Yet  she  was  obstinate  and  proud.  Having 
once  begun,  she  would  not  let  go.  How  should 
she  get  help,  and  help  without  humiliation?  She 
considered  her  own  circle. 

Bontine  she  put  aside  at  once.  Barring  his 
one  regret  for  unachieved  success  in  a  line  Fate 
had  not  marked  out  for  him,  he  was  the  embodi- 
ment of  common-sense,  and  held  decided  opinions 
on  women's  limitations.  From  him  she  could 
obtain  help  to  retreat ;  advice  for  attack  he  would 
give  none,  but  would  block  the  way  instead. 

As  for  Romney,  "dear  big  Sam,"  though  she 
really  loved  him  and  felt  for  him  as  a  child  may 
for  a  Newfoundland  dog,  she  thought  she  knew 
his  simple  character  too  well  to  expect  anything 
but  a  wild  outburst  of  laughing  expostulation. 
Probably  he  would  pat  her  on  the  back  and  tell 
her  to  be  "  good"  as  the  price  of  his  silence.  And 
his  pledging  his  word  in  advance  not  to  reveal 
anything  was  out  of  the  question.  He  showed 
uncommon  caution  in  such  cases. 
i68 


The  Colossus 

There  remained  no  one  but  Hinton,  though 
sometimes  she  wished  that  Louis  Berwick  were 
in  Cairo.  Berwick  had  a  certain  intellectual  de- 
light in  intrigue,  and,  indeed,  was  to  a  great  ex- 
tent the  only  prominently  intellectual  man  in  the 
whole  immediate  circle  of  those  interested  in  the 
railway.  But  he  was  in  England  "chess-playing" 
in  the  Lobby,  and  persuading  people  in  his  very 
dreams. 

She  turned  to  Hinton,  and  resolved  to  use  him 
and  his  liking  for  her. 

"I  want  your  advice,  Mr.  Hinton." 

Emory  raised  his  eyebrows. 

"Indeed,  Miss  Broughton!" 

Gertrude  nodded. 

"But  I'm  talking  to  you  in  confidence — in  the 
strictest  confidence — am  I  not?" 

"If  you  say  so,  of  course,"  said  Emory. 

Gertrude  shook  her  head. 

"Give  me  your  word  of  honor  that  you  won't 
tell  any  one — and  when  I  say  any  one  I  mean  it — 
anything  directly  or  indirectly  about  what  I  say." 

"Humph,"  said  Emory  doubtfully.  "And  is  it 
so  serious  as  all  that  ?" 

"No,"  cried  Gertrude,  "it's  not  so  serious ;  but 
it's  all  that.     Will  you  promise?" 

Hinton  considered  the  question  for  a  few  mo- 
ments. What  was  she  going  to  say?  Probably 
169 


The  Colossus 

it  was  some  silly  feminine  scheme  for  getting  at 
Zohrab.  If  he  declined  to  give  his  word  she 
might  do  some  harm.  That  she  could  possibly 
do  any  good  never  occurred  to  him.  If  he  al- 
lowed her  to  talk  openly,  he  could  only  do  good 
by  knowing  what  was  in  her  mind. 

"Very  well,"  he  said,  "I'll  give  you  my  word. 
I  give  it." 

"And  you  won't  dare  to  go  back  on  it,  even  if 
I  tell  you  something  that  you  want  to  tell  the 
Chief?" 

"No,"  said  Emory  doubtfully,  "but  I'd  rather 
you  didn't  tell  me  anything  I  can't  tell  him," 

"Then  you  haven't  given  me  your  word  of 
honor,"  cried  Gertrude  crossly. 

"I  have,"  said  Emory.     "Now  fire  away." 

"I  want  you  to  help  me,"  she  began. 

"Well,"  said  Emory  encouragingly,  "that  won't 
lie  heavily  on  my  conscience  if  I  don't  tell  him." 

Gertrude  lifted  her  hand. 

"It's  no  joking  matter,"  she  said  quickly. 
"Because  I've  been  doing  a  lot  this  week " 

"What?" 

"I've  been  doing  a  great  deal.  And  it's 
about " 

"Zohrab?" 

"Yes,  about  him.  And  I've  discovered  how  to 
do  it." 

170 


The  Colossus 

Emory  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"To  do  what?     Please  be  plain." 

"To  do  what  is  wanted.  Isn't  that  plain 
enough  ?" 

Emory  stared  at  her. 

"You  mean  to  get  him  out  of  the  way  ?" 

"Yes.  And,  Mr,  Hinton,  I've  taken  a  house 
in  Cairo." 

"Good  Lord!  And  what  for?"  cried  Emory 
in  astonishment. 

Gertrude  nodded. 

"It's  all  in  the  plan." 

"Does  Lady  Bontine  know?" 

"Not  a  word,"  said  Gertrude.  "And  I  know 
Achmet !" 

Emory  stared  at  her  and  burst  out  laughing. 

"Upon  my  soul,  you  are  a  quaint  person !  How 
the  deuce  did  you  get  to  know  him?" 

"I  just  wrote  to  him,"  said  Gertrude  hastily; 
and  then,  to  deprecate  what  she  thought  was  com- 
ing, she  added,  "I  had  to — can't  you  see  I  had 
to?" 

Emory  shook  his  head, 

"I  can't  see  you  had  to  do  anything;  and  it's 
very  rash  of  you  to  interfere  in  a  thing  like 
this " 

Gertrude  interrupted  him  angrily. 

"Oh,  of  course,  you're  a  man,  and  would  say 
171 


The  Colossus 

so.  But  how  are  you  getting  on,  all  of  you? 
You  are  doing  nothing,  nothing !  And  I  can  do 
something.  It's  as  good  as  done  if  you'll  help 
me  a  little,"  she  cried.  "Now,  will  you  help,  or 
shall  I  tell  you  no  more?" 

Emory  looked  at  her  fixedly,  and  just  for  a 
moment  saw  her  without  any  sexual  illusion,  as 
a  man  sometimes  does  see  even  the  woman  he  is 
fondest  of.  And  that  she  should  interfere  in 
men's  business  made  this  easier.  He  saw  that 
she  must  have  fooled  Zohrab  in  a  way  not  pleas- 
ing to  think  of.  It  was  hardly  the  right  thing  to 
do.  And  yet,  if  she  had  done  it,  he  saw  in  a 
flash  that  it  might  be  possible  to  draw  the  Egyp- 
tian into  a  compromising  situation.  Emory's 
momentary  coldness  toward  Gertrude  helped  him 
to  face  the  situation,  and  reckon  up  the  cost.  To^ 
help  her  was  partly  to  lose  his  respect  for  her. 
He  spoke  out  suddenly. 

"It's  not  a  thing  you  ought  to  do." 

And  then  Gertrude  got  angry. 

"What  is  that  to  you?  I  do  not  care  in  the 
least  what  you  think.  But  if  you  want  to  have 
something  done,  I  can  help  you.  If  you  don't,  I 
can  get  some  one  else.  I  didn't  tell  you  to  get 
your  opinion  of  my  conduct.  I  told  you  because 
I  am  not  strong  enough  to  do  it  by  myself.  Now, 
will  you  help  or  not  ?" 

172 


The  Colossus 

Emory  could  have  shaken  her,  and  he  half  rose 
from  his  chair. 

"Tell  me  how  far  you  have  got,  and  I'll  see," 
he  said  very  shortly. 

And  Gertrude,  who  was  in  a  very  visible  huff, 
told  him  what  she  had  done,  and  what  she  pro- 
posed doing-.  As  she  talked  Emory  opened  his 
eyes  wider  and  wider.  Certainly  he  had  never 
suspected  her  of  so  much  ability  or  of  such  vision. 
He  wondered  that  they  had  never  plotted  some- 
thing like  it  themselves.  It  seemed  clear  and 
without  difficulty,  and  if  it  succeeded  it  was  not 
easy  to  see  how  Zohrab  could  rehabilitate  himself 
with  the  Khedive,  who  was  notoriously  suspicious 
of  all  his  entourage. 

But  there  was  one  difficulty  which  Gertrude 
apparently  had  not  considered,  and  perhaps  had 
not  seen.  Emory  followed  her  mind  with  more 
ease  the  more  he  was  detached  from  her.  She 
meant  making  herself  obviously  useful  to  the 
Chief,  and  seemed  to  imagine  that  Mr.  Loder 
would  take  easily  the  fact  that  any  woman  was 
useful  to  him.  To  Hinton's  mind  it  was  possible 
that  he  would  be  more  than  ever  hostile  to,  or  at 
least  alienated  from,  her.  The  notion  made  Em- 
ory chuckle  coldly. 

Then  there  was  another  thing.  It  was  quite 
conceivable  that  the  mere  certainty  of  Zohrab's 
1/3 


The  Colossus 

disgrace  would  bring  Cazoule  down  without  de- 
lay. Hinton  had  a  very  natural  repugnance  to 
ruining  an  innocent  man,  and  he  was  almost  dis- 
gusted to  note  that  this  never  occurred  to  Ger- 
trude. For  her  the  simple  fact  that  Zohrab  was 
in  the  way  was  enough  to  make  her  look  on  him 
as  almost  criminal.  She  took  the  shortest  femi- 
nine view,  as  was  natural. 

"I  think  the  mere  threat  to  disgrace  him  might 
be  enough  with  Cazoule,"  he  remarked,  after  a 
long  pause.  "That  is,  if  the  Frenchman  sees  that 
we  have  evidence  which  would  be  sufficient  with 
the  Khedive." 

"Achmet  and  I  would  be  evidence  enough," 
said  Gertrude. 

"But  would  Mr.  Loder  ask  you  to  give  evi- 
dence?" asked  Emory. 

"Of  course  he  would,  Mr.  Hinton." 

"I'm  not  so  sure  of  it,"  said  the  Secretary. 
"You  don't  know  him." 

He  annoyed  Gertrude  Broughton  very  much. 

"He  knows  what  he  wants,  and  if  I  was  neces- 
sary he  would  ask  me." 

"I  hope  so,"  said  Emory,  "for  if  he  doesn't 
Zohrab  would  have  to  go." 

Gertrude  opened  her  mouth  to  speak,  but  re- 
flected for  a  moment,  and  said  nothing.  She 
was  about  to  remark  that  if  Mr.  Loder  did  not 
174 


The  Colossus 

ask  her,  she  would  do  nothing.  But  that  might 
make  Hinton  withdraw, 

"What  were  you  going  to  say?"  he  asked. 

"I  was  going  to  say  that  Achmet  looks  for 
Zohrab's  place  as  payment." 

"Then  let  him  look,"  said  Emory.  "I  don't 
care  in  the  least  what  he  expects." 

And  in  that  Gertrude  was  quite  at  one  with 
him.  On  the  whole,  it  would  be  much  cheaper 
if  Zohrab  did  not  fall.  She  would  save  a  good 
deal  of  money.  Fortunately,  Achmet,  experienced 
intriguer  as  he  was,  had  failed  to  see,  through  ig- 
norance of  the  wheels  within  wheels,  that  the  rail- 
way people  might  get  their  way  without  causing 
the  fall  of  his  rival.  This  thought  gave  Gertrude 
much  intellectual  comfort ;  she  began  to  despise 
Achmet  as  a  tool,  and  in  no  long  space  of  time 
imagined  she  had  never  meant  to  pay  him.  She 
thought  it  very  clever  of  her,  and  a  singular  proof 
of  her  fitness  for  real  intrigue. 

"I  must  have  a  day  to  think  about  this,"  said 
Hinton  after  a  long  pause. 

"As  long  as  you  like,"  cried  Gertrude. 

"I  really  think  you  a  very  clever  woman,"  said 
the  Secretary,  in  an  aloof  and  detached  way  not 
at  all  agreeable  to  his  companion.  Though  she 
called  him  a  boy  in  her  mind,  she  saw  she  had 
lost  as  well  as  gained  with  him,  and  there  was 
175 


The  Colossus 

a  straightforward  honesty  about  Hinton  which 
made  his  opinion  of  value  to  most  people. 

"Well,  I  just  want  to  do  something,"  she  re- 
marked inconsequently  and  with  some  resent- 
ment. 

"You'll  do  it,"  said  Hinton.  "I'll  let  you  know 
to-morrow." 

He  left  Gertrude  without  ceremony,  and  she 
fell  into  reverie.  She  did  not  notice  that  Emory 
turned  round  and  looked  at  her  with  eyes  that 
were  once  more  without  prejudice  in  her  favor. 
For  she  was  imagining  a  scene  in  which  Loder 
showed  himself  more  than  grateful ;  she  drove 
with  him  down  the  Wynberg  Road;  she  went 
with  him  to  public  dinners;  she  heard  herself 
called  Mrs.  Loder. 

Surely  such  a  man  must  marry  in  the  end ;  he 
must  have  so  much  to  say  to  a  wife  that  could  be 
said  to  no  one  else.  She  saw  him  as  a  very,  very 
big  man,  but  as  a  woman  she  knew  he  must  have 
hours  when  he  was  not  sufficient  unto  himself. 
She  saw  him  as  a  woman  so  often  sees  a  strong 
man  whom  she  is  interested  in,  but  not  familiar 
with.  Surely  such  a  man  must  need  a  woman 
to  show  his  weaknesses  to — one  who  would  not 
think  of  them  as  weaknesses,  but  rather  as  notes 
of  common  human  nature,  which  raised  into 
higher  relief  the  fact  that  as  a  whole  he  was  in- 
176 


The  Colossus 

finitely  above  those  with  whom  he  lived  and 
worked. 

If  it  was  true  that  Loder  had  his  weak  hours 
(and  greater  than  he  have  had  them),  she  did 
not  see  that  a  man  who  lives  with  Ideas  must, 
like  the  dyer's  hand,  be  utterly  subdued  to  what 
he  works  in.  And  Loder  saw  things  in  masses; 
since  he  was  a  young  man,  it  is  possible  he  never 
deliberately  considered  a  woman  as  an  individ- 
ual; he  might  have  eyed  them  with  the  abstract 
eye  of  the  market;  he  might  have  considered 
them  with  the  general  interest  of  the  polygamist. 
Some  women  there  are  who  are  conscious  of  sur- 
prise that  any  really  great  man  can  care  for 
any  one  particular  woman.  If  they  themselves 
are  chosen,  they  can  make  excuses  for  the  hero; 
any  other  choice  is  proof  that  he  is  no  hero  at 
all.  To  love  any  one  with  the  absorbing  love 
which  a  woman  considers  worth  having  is  to 
devote  a  large  portion  of  one's  life  to  common 
human  ends.  To  such  a  man  as  Loder  this 
was  nothing  but  a  waste  of  his  uncommon  facul- 
ties. 

Half  unconsciously,  Gertrude  Broughton  some- 
times came  near  this  truth  with  regard  to  him. 
She  felt  in  a  vague  way  that  the  only  means  of 
making  him  a  common  human  being  was  to  get 
him  to  do  his  work  and  have  done  with  it.  If 
i»  177 


The  Colossus 

Africa  were  federated,  and  the  big  railway  put 
into  a  process  of  automatic  completion,  he  might 
shake  off  his  continental  obsessions  and  play 
rather  with  a  domestic  cat  than  with  Ideas  and 
Lions  on  the  slopes  of  Table  Mountain.  After 
all,  it  was  only  upon  extinct  volcanoes  that  vines 
and  sugar-cane  grew,  and  human  homes  arose  at 
last. 

But  those  who  knew  Loder  best  were  the 
least  certain  of  what  would  arise  to  take  the 
place  of  accomplished  Ideas.  There  was  at 
times  a  certain  large  suggestiveness  about  him 
which  precluded  his  having  any  definite  limita- 
tions. 

*Tf  the  Chief  sits  on  the  world-egg,  the  Lord 
only  knows  what  bird  we  shall  have,"  said  Hin- 
ton,  with  a  twinkle  of  his  eye,  when  this  was  sug- 
gested. "At  any  rate,  the  notion  isn't  so  ludicrous 
as  Stead's  taking  Russia  under  his  wing.  That 
reminds  me  of  a  hen  trying  to  hatch  out  Helvel- 
lyn." 

But  Hinton,  after  considering  the  matter,  con- 
cluded to  help  the  hen  Gertrude  to  hatch  out  her 
little  egg. 

"1  don't  see  how  it  can  do  harm,  and  it  may 
do  good,"  he  cried.    "And  as  I  can't  stop  her,  I 
may  as  well  supervise  her  operations.     And  the 
notion  is  clever,  I  own." 
178 


The  Colossus 

He  went  to  her  the  day  after  he  came  to  this 
decision. 

"Very  well,  I'll  help,"  he  said.  "But  you  must 
tell  me  everything,  and  keep  nothing  up  your 
sleeve." 


CHAPTER   XV 

Fortunately  for  Emory  Hinton's  comfort  of 
mind,  he  was  not  troubled  by  any  sense  of  dis- 
loyalty in  thus  working  without  Loder's  knowl- 
edge. The  Chief  gave  every  one  whom  he  trusted 
a  large  discretion,  and  as  he  was  bound  to  excite 
a  large  amount  of  the  odium  politiciim,  he  wisely 
permitted  his  subordinates  to  incur,  each  for  him- 
self, as  much  as  he  could  bear.  The  chief  use  of 
deputed  responsibility  in  public  life  was  that  the 
principal  might  be  able  to  repudiate  any  one 
action  when  it  became  desirable ;  and  Loder  often 
felt  the  necessity  of  being  able  to  say : 

"I  knew  nothing  of  it." 

But  though  Emory  broke  no  tittle  of  his  word 
with  Gertrude,  he  did  throw  out  certain  hints  as 
to  Zohrab  with  a  view  of  eliciting  an  opinion 
from  Loder.  But  to  get  an  opinion  from  the 
Chief  was  not  always  an  easy  task,  and  now, 
when  he  was  more  than  ever  preoccupied,  he 
viewed  the  world  absently,  and  was  hypnotised 
by  his  own  ideas.  And  as  he  had  more  or  less 
definitely  thrown  over  any  project  for  influencing 
the  Khedivial  Court  indirectly  and  through  back- 
iSo 


The  Colossus 

stairs  intrigue,  he  hardly  listened  to  his  Secre- 
tary's renewed  suggestions. 

And  just  lately  the  opposition  to  his  plans  in 
England  had  engaged  some  of  his  attention. 

The  period  of  Empire-building  in  "absence  of 
mind"  had  come  to  an  end,  and  the  public  kept 
its  eye  on  every  move  In  the  game.  Though  the 
idea  of  the  Transcontinental  Railway  was  mag- 
nificent, it  might  not  be  "war."  The  critics  of 
the  movement,  while  not  daring  to  denounce 
Loder  as  a  Confidence  man,  sometimes  suggested 
he  was  leading  a  Balaklava  charge  only.  Ac- 
cording to  his  state  of  mind,  which  varied  with 
success  or  success  deferred,  he  was  amused 
or  irritated  by  the  buzz  of  such  journalistic 
flies. 

At  one  time  he  had  borne  criticism  and  hostility 
with  impatience.  Even  now,  when  he  had  taken 
a  beating  and  been  the  better  for  it,  he  could 
scarcely  endure  to  see  little  men  upon  the  bench 
of  public  opinion.  He  had  ardor  for  domination ; 
and  his  career  increased  this  ardor.  His  greatest 
opponents  and  enemies  admitted  his  pre-eminence 
even  when  he  was  defeated.  They  showed  this 
by  their  fear  in  the  very  moment  of  victory.  That 
they  were  even  victorious  at  all  caused  them  in- 
finite amazement. 

He  was  certainly  most  dangerous  when 
i8i 


The  Colossus 

worsted.  He  sometimes  recalled  with  a  chuckle 
the  saying  of  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  that  it 
was  not  perhaps  so  difficult  to  knock  a  man  down, 
but  that  the  trouble  was  the  man  might  get  up 
and  give  his  assailant  a  thrashing.  It  had  been 
so  when  Loder  faced  the  English  National  Rep- 
resentatives who  inquired  into  his  conduct  with 
regard  to  the  Transvaal.  He  sat  down  in  front 
of  this  row  of  men  on  whom  absurd  gods  had 
bestowed  the  power  of  asking  him  questions  and 
exacting  answers,  with  a  feeling  of  the  most 
profound  astonishment.  It  was  almost  dismay. 
A  shepherd  suddenly  attacked  and  bowled  over 
by  his  flock  could  have  been  no  more  surprised 
and  alarmed.  It  was  a  most  ridiculous  inversion, 
and  for  once  (and  for  a  day)  he  showed  amaze- 
ment; he  stumbled,  fumbled,  lost  grip,  and  felt 
the  abyss  beneath  him. 

When  those  who  were  roped  to  him  on  this 
great  and  icy  traverse  saw  him  astounded,  for  a 
moment  they,  too,  lost  confidence.  If  the  Guide 
among  the  political  higher  Alps  should  fall  into 
the  crevasse  none  would  escape.  But  as  each  one 
there  was  more  or  less  capable  of  leadership  (and 
in  this  fact  lay  the  true  justification  of  his  being 
the  Chief),  they  did  not  lose  their  heads.  In 
other  words,  they  cried,  "This  will  never  do, 
Loder."  He  grunted,  shook  his  head,  heard  them 
182 


The  Colossus 

out,  and  (to  desert  metaphor)  got  on  his  horse 
and  galloped. 

He  was  a  big  and  heavy  man,  and  had  no  ele- 
gant seat  upon  a  horse.  But  as  he  hurled  himself 
through  the  air  his  confidence  returned.  If  these 
little  people  were  the  Questioners,  he  was  the 
Answerer  in  a  greater  sense :  he  solved  bigger 
riddles  than  they  knew  of,  and  had  a  bigger,  if 
less  vocal,  constituency  to  back  him.  He  was 
conscious  (and  truly  conscious)  that  on  that 
bench  of  question-askers  there  was  not  one  who, 
in  Africa,  would  not  have  been  his  subordinate. 
The  terrors  they  were  clothed  in  were  accidental, 
not  the  essential  attributes  of  their  personalities. 
As  co-directors  on  a  mine  he  would  have  riddled 
them  through  his  sieve.  His  courage  returned,  he 
went  back,  met  them  with  a  cold  eye,  put  them  in 
their  places,  ruled  them,  and  was  dominant.  It 
was  magnificent,  and  it  wojiWar. 

Here,  in  Egypt,  was  no  such  instant  necessity ; 
the  game  need  not  be  won  in  any  given  number 
of  moves.  Time  was  on  his  side;  if  he  went 
homeward  or  to  England,  without  having  ob- 
taind  the  guarantee,  it  would  be  no  more  than 
prolonging  the  campaign.  If  his  pride  had  not 
been  to  some  extent  involved  in  immediate  suc- 
cess, he  might  at  this  hour  have  shifted  his  base 
of  operations.  But  he  knew  dimly,  and  yet  each 
183 


The  Colossus 

day  more  clearly,  that  much  depended  on  striking 
the  imperial  imagination  of  the  EngUsh  people. 
Unless  they  were  appealed  to  with  the  big  harp, 
they  were  small  and  they  haggled;  they  would 
fob  him  off  with  a  guarantee  on  their  side  of  a 
few  hundred  miles :  the  pettifogging  element 
would  cry  for  immediate  dividends.  They  never 
thought  of  the  national  capital  of  men's  lives  sunk 
in  the  formation  of  every  colony  they  held ;  on  a 
small  view  they  considered  money,  and  money 
alone. 

But  let  him  come  to  them  and  say,  "Here's 
Egypt  ready  to  hand  me  over  the  rail  to  Wady 
Haifa ;  here's  Egypt  guaranteeing  me  the  interest 

for  the  road   down  to  Uganda "   and  they 

would  fly  out  at  him  with  eagerness,  while  the 
democratic  Duke  would  say  "Ditto"  to  the  people. 

It  was  worth  staying  at  Cairo  for,  even  when 
it  seemed  rather  hopeless.  If  he  went  away  now, 
he  would  have  to  be  content  with  that  easy  ar- 
rangement to  get  his  telegraph-poles  taken  up 
the  Nile,  which  had  been  the  ostensible  reason 
of  his  being  at  Cairo  at  all. 

"Just  fancy  the  Chief  coming  here  to  arrange 
a  matter  of  barges  and  so  forth !"  said  Emory  to 
ruddy  Sam  Romney. 

And  Sam  went  off  into  a  shout  of  laughter. 

"My  boy,  when  you  consider  it,  most  things 
184 


The  Colossus 

are  funny,"  he  cried,  as  he  clapped  the  Secretary 
on  the  shoulder  with  a  shock  which  nearly  un- 
shipped that  young  man's  clavicle.  "Why  am  I 
here  instead  of  enjoying  myself  in  Paris  ?  That's 
what  I  said  to  Le  Gros  when  we  were  there  to- 
gether. I  said,  'Hang  it  all !  Now,  this  is  fun, 
and  yet  I  shall  be  back  in  fever  swamps  again.' 
Ah!  we  were  going  to  Versailles  in  a  four-in- 
hand.  I  swear  Le  Gros  wishes  you  would  only 
get  through  here." 

Hinton  snorted. 

"Then  it's  a  pity  he  didn't  use  his  influence  on 
you,"  he  said. 

"He  hasn't  any,"  retorted  Sam.  "There  aren't 
many  men  can  blow  me  as  an  instrument." 

Hinton  laughed. 

"  'S'blood !  we'll  play  on  you  like  a  pipe,'  " 
he  quoted.  "How  do  you  get  on  with  the  haut- 
boy?" 

"I'll  take  a  band  back  with  me  to  Beira,"  said 
Sam  with  unction. 

"Start  a  Shangani  band,"  cried  Hinton,  "and 
I'll  come  up  and  criticise  it  and  your  railway.  By 
the  way,  why  didn't  you  stagger  your  rails  on  the 
Bulawayo  section?" 

And  Sam  dropped  music  to  go  into  a  technical 
discussion,  which  he  enjoyed  almost  as  much  as 
theology.  They  went  from  rail  "staggering"  into 
185 


The  Colossus 

curves  and  tangents,  and  very  soon  Hinton  got 
lost. 

"Well,  that's  all  right,"  said  the  Secretary; 
"but  don't  do  it  again." 

"What?" 

"Oh,  it,  or  anything,"  cried  Hinton,  laughing. 
"Go  and  calculate  the  coefficient  of  friction  be- 
tween you  and  the  Chief,  while  I  get  Wilberforce 
Matthews  to  write  a  nice  little  paragraph  about 
telegraph-posts." 

As  he  went  to  find  Matthews  he  passed  Lady 
Bontine  and  Gertrude  sitting  in  their  usual  cor- 
ner. 

"You  must  have  been  busy  lately,  Mr.  Hinton," 
cried  Tiny  Bontine,  "for  we  have  seen  nothing  of 
you  for  three  days  except  at  meals." 

As  she  spoke  she  glanced  at  Gertrude,  who 
looked  particularly  cold. 

"I  have  been  busy,  and  that's  a  fact,"  said  Hin- 
ton ;  "but  if  you  have  anything  for  me  to  do,  I'm 
free  this  afternoon.  Shall  I  bring  you  a  small 
pyramid  on  toast?" 

"I'd  much  prefer  to  see  a  guarantee  on  paper," 
said  Tiny  smartly,  "and  then  we  could  leave  this 
hateful  place.  I  want  to  get  back  to  Stellenbosch. 
And  how  are  you  progressing?" 

Hinton  smiled. 

"Haven't  you  asked  Sir  George?" 

iS6 


The  Colossus 

"Yes,  of  course " 

"Then  you  know  all  about  it,  I'm  sure,"  said 
Hinton. 

But  Tiny  Bontine  shook  her  head. 

"I  thought  I  was  used  to  intrigues  and  all  that 
at  the  Cape,"  she  cried ;  "but  such  an  atmosphere 
as  there  is  here  I  never  was  in.  You  have  all  an 
air  of  being  engaged  in  awful  conspiracies.  My 
own  husband  is  getting  to  look  like  Guy  Fawkes, 
and  I'm  sure  you  have  a  dark  lantern  concealed 
about  you.  And  Mr.  Loder  in  three  meals  spoke 
six  words." 

"And  what  were  they?" 

"He  said,  'Pass  the  mustard,  please,'  and  that's 
four,  and  when  I  did,  trembling,  he  said,  'Thank 
you,'  and  froze  me  to  my  seat.  And  when  I  got 
unfrozen,  I  made  a  remark,  and  ten  minutes  later 
he  said,  'Eh,  what  ?'  to  the  world  in  general." 

Even  Gertrude  relaxed  and  laughed  at  her 
cousin's  mimicry  of  Loder. 

"If  it  wasn't  for  Mr.  Romney  I  should  become 
a  mummy  and  go  to  the  Museum  and  ask  to  be 
taken  in,"  lamented  Tiny.  "Oh,  dear!  oh,  dear! 
I  wish  we  were  at  Stellenbosch." 

And,  to  tell  the  truth,  so  did  Gertrude.      If 

Bontine  had  come  along  and  masterfully  directed 

an  immediate  packing-up,  she  would  have  hailed 

the  order  with  some  relief.     For  she  was  dis- 

187 


The  Colossus 

pleased  with  herself  and  with  Hinton — with  her- 
self because  she  was  not  so  strong  as  she  thought, 
and  with  Hinton  because  he  was  stronger  than 
she  had  imagined.  Having  entered  into  her  plan, 
he  altered  and  arranged  it  to  suit  his  own  ideas. 
She  consoled  herself  for  falling  into  the  second 
place  by  remembering  that  Loder  would  have  to 
come  off  his  pedestal  and  ask  for  her  assistance. 
She  played  the  scene  in  her  mind  with  some  satis- 
faction and  no  little  dignity. 

Had  the  Chief  been  able  to  view  her  mental 
puppet-show,  he  would  have  done  some  grunting, 
and  might  have  said  something  far  too  pungent 
for  publication.  It  v/as  very  difficult  for  those 
who  knew  him  to  imagine  his  assumption  of  any 
such  role  as  the  dramatic  Gertrude  assigned  to 
him,  and  if  he  did  enter  her  theatre,  there  was 
likely  to  be  some  fluttering  of  the  conventional 
dovecots.  Not  a  man  that  knew  him  but  would 
have  paid  a  heavy  price  to  be  in  the  front  row  of 
the  stalls  on  so  tremendous  an  occasion. 

When  Hinton  had  heard  Lady  Bontine's  jere- 
miad to  the  end,  he  tried  to  console  her. 

"There !  there !"  he  cried.  "I  see  Table  Moun- 
tain within  sight,  and  Stellenbosch  right  at  hand. 
You  never  can  tell  when  the  end  comes  in  a 
game  like  this.  But  I  seem  to  see  the  hour  when 
resignation  will  be  the  order  of  the  day  with  our 

1 88 


The  Colossus 

gentle  opponents.  By  the  way,  Miss  Broughton, 
did  you  do  what  I  asked  you  ?" 

"Yes,"  said  Gertrude,  and,  rising,  she  followed 
him  a  little  way. 

"Then,  it's  to  be  to-morrow  afternoon?"  he 
asked  when  they  were  out  of  earshot. 

Gertrude  was  extremely  uncomfortable,  and 
showed  it  by  assuming  a  defiant  hardness. 

"Unless  the  fly  at  the  last  determines  that  I 
am  a  spider,"  she  cried.  "  'Will  you  walk  into 
my  parlor?' " 

"Very  well,"  said  Hinton,  "then  I  shall  be 
there  before  three.  I've  got  the  key,  and  can  let 
myself  in." 

But  as  he  went  off  he  could  not  help  wonder- 
ing how  it  was  possible  for  him  to  have  ever 
thought  Gertrude  as  pretty  as  she  really  was. 
Being  out  of  love,  he  was  very  wise,  and  consid- 
ered the  love  illusion  with  some  acuteness. 

"Yet,  if  she  had  been  really  nicer  to  me,  I 
should  have  been  swearing  she  was  the  most 
beautiful  woman  in  the  world." 

But  now  he  felt  so  aloof  that  he  would  have 
liked  to  discuss  the  subject  with  Eustace  Loder. 
And  then  he  laughed  at  the  notion,  and  knew 
that  if  Loder  were  caught  in  his  one  hour  of 
mental  ease,  the  subject  would  turn  inside  out, 
and  become  Bismarck,  or  Cavour,  or  Pombal, 
189 


The  Colossus 

or  Porphyrio  Diaz,  or  Napoleon,  or  Caesar,  He 
would  have  quoted  Carlyle  on  some  great  man 
with  infinite  unction. 

"If  he  was  any  other  sort  of  man  he  would  be 
a  prig,"  said  his  Secretary,  who,  in  spite  of  his 
admiration  of  the  Chief,  had  his  moments  of 
clearer  vision. 

But  then  he  beheld  him  walking  among  the 
roses  with  his  hands  behind  his  back.  In  such 
moments  a  good  bloom  of  a  Marechal  Niel  was 
as  fine  a  thing  as  a  diplomatic  success ;  a  Gloire 
de  Dijon  competed  with  a  diamond  dividend  of 
thirty  per  cent. ;  his  hydrangeas  were  a  very  Kim- 
berley. 

It  was  no  wonder  that  the  Chief  had  such  a 
hold  over  those  who  came  inside  the  magic  circle 
of  his  attractions.  To  hear  him  talk  in  his  half- 
clumsy  way  about  a  mine,  to  note  his  involved 
yet  simple  mind  repeat  itself  again  and  again, 
was  to  believe  for  a  moment  that  he  never 
thought  of  anything  but  mines.  At  such  times 
it  was  comprehensible  that  some  narrow  intel- 
lects could  believe  in  the  "pure  greed"  theory  of 
his  actions.  As  he  rolled  globular  amounts  off 
his  tongue,  he  did  it  with  the  air  of  a  financial 
chef  who  himself  loved  to  dine.  And  yet  he  had 
that  appearance  only  because  he  gave  himself 
utterly  to  what  he  was  doing.  If  he  went  out  on 
190 


The  Colossus 

an  old-furniture  hunt,  as  he  sometimes  did,  it  is 
tolerably  certain  that  the  dealers  believed  him  a 
man  of  one  idea,  and  that  idea  old  oak.  He  had 
a  passion  for  completeness.  In  that  passion  lay 
the  germ  of  the  Kimberley  Idea;  the  germ  of 
Federation ;  the  germ  of  a  United  British  South 
Africa,  and  (given  the  big  chance)  Africa  all  Brit- 
ish by-and-by.  He  had  an  orderly  mind ;  to  see 
the  Transvaal  unclassed  did  not  please  his  regu- 
lating intellect.  As  Hinton  once  said  of  him,  the 
Universe  as  a  whole  was  a  simple  thing  for  Loder 
to  swallow;  only  the  disorder  of  its  details  dis- 
tressed him. 

And  this  led  again  to  his  leaving  details  to  his 
lieutenants.  For  all  his  interest  in  railways,  it  is 
highly  doubtful  whether  he  knew  the  length  or 
weight  of  the  standard  rail  in  South  Africa.  The 
meanest  Jew  sorter  at  Kimberley  would  have  de- 
spised his  knowledge  of  diamonds ;  since  such  a 
man  would  not  know  that  when  Loder  had  been 
directly  interested  in  gems  he  knew  at  least  as 
much  as  most.  He  possessed  the  power  of  for- 
getting. He  could  not  clear  his  mind  of  cant, 
because  there  was  none  in  him,  but  he  could 
clear  it  of  useless  knowledge.  If  he  ever  did  ap- 
pear to  descend  to  detail,  it  was  a  proof  that  the 
plan  then  in  his  mind  was  not  so  large  as  his 
usual  habits  of  thought  led  one  to  suppose. 
191 


The  Colossus 

"Now,  what  the  devil  arc  you  here  for?"  was 
a  common  enough  question  when  some  one  not 
yet  familiar  with  his  methods  ventured  to  im- 
agine that  an  ordered  end  might  not  of  necessity 
imply  the  means. 

"So,  after  all,  I  guess  it  doesn't  matter,"  said 
Hinton.  "Even  if  I  muck  it  a  bit,  he'll  rather 
pardon  my  upsetting  the  apple-cart  than  my  re- 
fusing to  pull  it  at  all." 

And  when  he  had  conveyed  to  Wilberforce 
Matthews  the  Chief's  desire  that  he  should  write 
something  for  a  special  English  paper  about  tele- 
graph-posts, he  sat  down  and  ticked  oflf  in  his 
mind  what  was  to  be  done  concerning  Zohrab. 
In  the  middle  of  his  reverie  he  was  interrupted  by 
Gertrude. 

"Of  course,  Mr.  Hinton,  you  will  understand 
that,  when  you  gave  me  your  word  not  to  men- 
tion this,  I  meant  either  before  or  after  it  oc- 
curred." 

Hinton  nodded. 

"I,  and  I  alone,  am  to  tell  Mr.  Loder  whether 
we  succeed  or  not." 

"I  suppose  that's  fair,"  said  Hinton. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

If  Loder  seemed  quiescent,  as  he  sat  down  be- 
fore his  City  of  Intent,  he  was  quiet  only  in  seem- 
ing. Those  who  worked  with  him  at  the  Cape, 
and  in  England,  and  in  France  and  Berlin,  were 
doing  their  utmost ;  for  he  inspired  them.  They 
were  part  of  him ;  he  was  quiet  only  as  com- 
pressed steam  is  quiet;  he  was  as  invisible  as 
steam.  His  inclusive  intellect  neglected  nothing ; 
and  among  the  forces  he  did  not  neglect  were 
the  Society  forces  of  England.  That,  as  a  whole, 
was  no  detail  to  be  deputed ;  when  he  was  in 
London  he  filled  up  with  renewed  power  his 
social  accumulators.  He  turned  even  the  friv- 
olous into  steam  shovels  as  he  planned  his  new 
Suez.  He  was  a  greater  Lesseps ;  less  excitable, 
more  phlegmatic,  equally  visionary,  but  better 
based;  as  fascinating,  and  as  childHke,  but  a 
Saxon  instead  of  a  Kelt.  He  never  bluffed  on 
a  pair  unless  he  had  stacked  the  cards;  had  he 
played  Panama,  he  would  have  gone  no  better 
than  the  game  demanded.  He  perceived  noth- 
ing final  in  catastrophes.  This  was  because  he 
saw  ahead.  The  intelligent  anticipation  of  dis- 
13  193 


The  Colossus 

aster  is  incipient  repair.  And,  opportunist 
though  he  was,  he  rarely  bought  to-day  at  the 
price  of  to-morrow. 

If  he  had  been  opportunist  in  the  commoner 
sense,  he  might  have  lent  himself  to  the  view 
that  the  removal  of  the  Khedive  was  the  easiest 
way  out  of  his  present  embarrassments. 

The  heads  of  all  the  Departments  interested  in 
Egypt  held  a  meeting  in  London  during  the  very 
week  when  Gertrude  Broughton  intervened  at 
Cairo.  They  were  to  decide  on  the  lines  of  policy 
for  the  Soudan,  but  of  necessity  discussed  the 
general  situation  on  the  Nile,  The  man  there 
most  immediately  in  touch  with  Egyptian  aflfairs 
was  Major-General  Lowry,  and  though  he  held 
no  definite  position  just  then  and  there,  with  that 
partial  elasticity  which  has  been  the  salvation  of 
England  from  rigid  officialdom,  there  was  not  a 
man  in  the  room  who  did  not  in  a  measure  defer 
to  him.  He  was  known  to  be  very  greatly  in 
the  confidence  of  Loder,  and  was  not  altogether 
unlike  the  Chief  in  many  aspects  of  his  character. 

"So,  then,  practically  speaking,  it  is  the  Khe- 
dive who  bars  the  way,"  said  Lord  Radclifife. 

"You  mean  with  regard  to  the  railway  scheme 
and  the  guarantee  ?"  asked  Lowry. 

"Yes." 

"That  is  undoubtedly  a  fact,"  said  Lowry. 
194 


The  Colossus 

"Of  course  we  know  where  the  opposition  be- 
gins.   But  that  is  where  we  come  against  it." 

"Then  why  don't  we  depose  him?"  asked  the 
Marquis  of  Landore.  "Why  should  we  put  up 
with  his  nonsense?" 

Lowry  was  essentially  a  man  of  few  words, 
and  was  popularly  supposed  to  be  incapable  of 
excitement.  But  at  this  he  fairly  jumped  on  to 
his  feet. 

"Good  heavens!"  he  cried,  "what,  depose  the 
Khedive?  Rather  let  us  cherish  him,  and  thank 
God  he's  there.  He's  as  weak  as  water.  What 
we  have  we  know;  what  we  may  have  is  guess- 
work." 

"Yes,  there  is  something  in  that,"  said  the 
Marquis.    "And  what  does  Mr.  Loder  think  ?" 

"He  is  not  a  man  to  buy  an  immediate  success 
for  his  own  schemes,  by  raising  worse  difficulties 
for  England  and  himself  later,"  said  Lowry. 

"And  you  think  he  will  get  through?" 

"That  he  thinks  so  is  enough  for  me,"  said 
Lowry,  with  an  odd  dark  smile. 

And  then  they  turned  to  the  subject  more  di- 
rectly in  hand,  the  future  Soudan  administration. 

But  as  men  worked  with  him  and  for  him,  so 
did  women. 

When  he  came  to  England  he  walked  like  an 
ancient  Highland  Chief  with  a  "tail."  And  in 
195 


The  Colossus 

the  tail  were  many  women  of  high  degree.  A 
Duchess  was  always  a  person  of  importance,  and 
Loder  was  quite  well  aware  of  the  fact ;  though 
he  could  no  more  stoop  to  court  one  in  the  usual 
social  way  than  Kilima  Njaro  could  bow  to  the 
biggest  ant-heap  in  the  Transvaal.  His  attitude 
of  indifference  was  an  attraction  and  a  tonic.  He 
would  go  to  the  theatre  with  some  of  the  leaders 
of  Society,  and  when  the  play  ceased  to  interest 
him,  would  stick  his  thumbs  in  his  waistcoat 
armholes,  and  yawn  tremendously  over  the  very 
head  of  a  Princess.  The  entire  house  could  per- 
ceive his  detachment,  his  massive  and  unadulter- 
ated boredom.  But  then  the  women  would  put 
up  with  Loder's  indifference  to  what  interested 
them,  and  insisted  on  having  common  ends  by 
doing  what  interested  him. 

He  had  a  powerful  backing  among  the  most 
powerful  caste  in  England,  and  had  gained  his 
footing  there  without  once  ceasing  to  be  himself. 
He  set  motive  forces  working  which  continued 
automatically.  He  could  sometimes  afford  to 
sleep  by  his  engine. 

He  thus  gained  (without  ever  thinking  of  it  in 
this  way)  a  certain  control  over  all  the  ferment- 
ing mass  of  intrigues  forever  going  on  in  Lon- 
don. And  he  confined  his  courtesies,  to  say 
nothing  of  discreet  opportunities  of  profit,  to  no 
196 


The  Colossus 

one  party.  With  party  government  he  saw  it 
was  necessary  to  have  an  entrenched  base  lying 
across  the  dividing  river.  He  made  friends,  not 
only  with  Mammon,  but  with  the  rival  financial 
house  as  well.  If  he  was,  on  the  whole,  a  per- 
sona grata  as  well  as  an  anxiety  to  the  Duke  of 
Enfield,  he  was  also  pleasing  to  Lord  Linlith- 
gow, and  made  no  secret  of  his  gratitude  to  him 
for  real  favors  of  foresight  equal  to  his  own. 
And  this  was  also  foresight.  No  one  knew  when 
Linlithgow,  who  had  some  characteristics  of  a 
Man  of  Destiny,  might  not  replace  the  democratic 
Duke. 

To  that  portion  of  England  which  held  him 
in  some  suspicion,  Loder  threw  an  occasional 
sop.  He  proclaimed  a  fervent  admiration  of  the 
late  Mr.  Ewart,  who  had  played  Hke  a  political 
Paganini  on  one  string  or  every  string  of  the 
Nonconformist  Conscience  fiddle.  And  truly 
enough  he  did  admire  him.  A  West  African 
negro  would  have  said  that  so  strong  and  so  old 
a  man  must  have  a  very  terrible  and  powerful 
bush  ghost,  which  would  need  careful  propitia- 
tion after  the  man's  death.  And,  truly,  Ewart's 
bush  ghost  was  still  active  in  the  Radical  Swamp- 
lands. Loder  admired  his  own  chief  qualities 
with  the  childlike  delight  of  the  strong  man  in 
his  muscle.  To  do,  to  strive,  to  achieve,  were 
197 


The  Colossus 

admirable  things.  He  saw  that  too  long  life 
alone  had  prevented  Ewart  from  doing  enough 
by  making  him  do  too  much.  Loder's  perpetual 
interest  in  great  men's  failures  led  him  to  per- 
ceive dimly  that  the  too  great  fixity  of  purpose, 
the  intensity  of  concentration,  the  cunning  sin- 
gleness of  idea  characteristic  of  Ewart's  later 
period,  -were  in  a  sense  pathological.  He  had 
grown  too  rigid  for  a  changing  environment. 
But  nevertheless  he  was  a  remarkable  man,  and 
one  is  by  no  means  supposed  to  tell  all  the  truth, 
even  about  Gordon. 

Though  Loder  had  so  much  judgment  (with 
occasional  lapses  when  he  used  a  phrase  like 
"unctuous  rectitude")  and  so  much  knowledge 
of  the  wider  issues  of  intrigue,  yet,  like  all  men 
who  live  in  the  diplomatic  web,  he  knew  there 
must  be  counter-intrigues  of  which  he  heard 
nothing.  That  there  were  intrigues  on  his  own 
side,  of  which  he  was  deliberately  kept  in  entire 
ignorance,  he  was  also  well  aware.  But  when 
the  last  new  one  did  come  out,  he  was  for  a  mo- 
ment intensely  surprised.  And  the  next  he  was 
furiously  angry.  It  affected  him  as  a  good  chess- 
player is  affected  when  a  better  move  than  his 
own  intended  one  is  suggested  aloud  by  an  en- 
tirely despicable  player.  But  in  this  case  there 
was  a  curious  and  characteristic  scene  before  the 
198 


The  Colossus 

suggestion  was  made.  And  the  players  in  it  were 
Hinton,  Gertrude,  Wilberforce  Matthews,  and 
the  Chief  himself. 

For  two  days  had  elapsed  since  Gertrude  had 
played  her  first  match  with  Zohrab,  and  now  her 
courage  had  returned  to  her. 

"Come,  when  are  you  going  to  speak  to  the 
Chief?"  asked  Hinton.  He  could  not  help  show- 
ing a  sarcastic  earnestness  to  see  her  at  hand- 
grips with  Loder.  Well  as  he  knew  the  man,  he 
could  not  foretell  with  any  certainty  how  he 
would  take  a  woman's  interference. 

"I  shall  choose  my  own  time,"  answered  Ger- 
trude, with  acerbity.    "I  did  this." 

Emory  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"So  you  did,  but  you  brought  me  into  it, 
and  I  think  I  have  some  claim  to  ask  you  to 
lose  no  time.  I  believe  you  are  afraid  of  the 
Chief." 

He  spoke  rather  tauntingly,  and  Gertrude 
flushed  a  dusky  red,  which  made  her  look  like  an 
angry  gipsy. 

"I'm  not  afraid  of  him." 

"You  are,"  cried  Hinton  with  a  laugh  which 
had  no  merriment  in  it.  He  was  trying  delib- 
erately to  anger  her.  "It  will  be  most  amusing 
and  interesting,  won't  it?" 

She  looked  at  him  contemptuously. 

199 


The  Colossus 

"I  thought  you  were  a  gentleman,  Mr.  Hin- 
ton." 

As  he  was  a  young  man,  this  hurt  him.  But  he 
recovered  and  countered. 

"I  find  it  difficult  to  live  up  to  your  standard  of 
correctness.  Miss  Broughton." 

She  turned  round  and  walked  away  from  him. 

Yes,  what,  for  instance,  was  Zohrab's  opinion 
of  her  now  ?  What  was  Emory's  ?  What  would 
be  the  Chiefs?  He,  at  any  rate,  would  pass  no 
scrupulous  judgments,  but  would  estimate  every- 
thing by  results.  What  did  he  admire  most  of 
all?  The  overcoming  of  obstacles.  It  mattered 
nothing  what  the  obstacles  were ;  they  might  be 
internal,  external,  natural,  or  created.  She  re- 
membered the  story  of  the  London  editor  who 
wanted  to  see  him. 

For  once  when  Loder  was  in  town  a  pushing 
young  proprietor  and  editor  made  up  his  mind 
to  know  the  Chief.  He  went  to  his  hotel,  found 
Mr.  Loder's  private  staircase  blocked  by  a  foot- 
man, and  was  stopped  as  he  attempted  to  go  up. 

"Take  my  card," 

"Sir,"  said  the  man,  "it  is  absolutely  against 
my  orders." 

"You  see  who  I  am  ?" 

"It  makes  no  difference,  sir." 

"What  is  Mr.  Loder  doing?" 


The  Colossus 

The  Obstacle  smiled. 

"Well,  sir,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Mr.  Loder  is  in 
his  bath,"  he  replied. 

The  editor  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket  and 
pulled  out  a  five-pound  note. 

"Now  look  here,"  he  said,  'T  don't  want  you 
to  let  me  up.  But  take  this  and  just  turn  your 
eyes  away." 

The  bribe  was  too  much.  The  footman  turned 
his  head,  and  the  editor  stepped  upstairs.  On 
the  landing  he  heard  the  splash  of  water,  and 
opened  the  bath-room  door. 

At  a  pinch  the  Chief  could  use  astounding 
and  picturesque  language,  not  to  be  surpassed 
by  any  Kimberley  digger  of  Kimberley's  palmy 
individualistic  days.  He  used  it  now,  and  ended 
with : 

"Who  the  devil  are  you  ?" 

The  editor  declared  who  he  was. 

"And,  what's  more,  I  meant  to  see  you,"  he 
said  firmly.  "It  cost  me  five  pounds.  If  it  had 
cost  fifty  it  would  have  been  the  same." 

The  ruling  passion  of  a  man  makes  a  consid- 
erable difference  to  his  judgment  of  breaches  of 
etiquette.  Some  men  would  have  hurled  the 
soap-dish  at  the  insolent  intruder.  Some  would 
have  controlled  themselves  for  a  minute,  and, 
having  partially  dressed  themselves,  would  have 


The  Colossus 

thrown  him  downstairs.  Loder  did  neither;  he 
gave  a  squeak  of  laughter,  and  said : 

"All  right !  stay  to  breakfast." 

This  man  had  overcome  all  his  precautions — 
had  brushed  through  obstacles  which  would 
have  stopped  any  one  of  delicacy.  He  had  suc- 
ceeded at  any  cost.  Though  it  was  a  small  thing, 
it  suggested  power.  If  a  man  knew  what  he 
wanted  it  was  more  than  half  the  battle  with  the 
Chief. 

"And  I  know  what  I  want,"  declared  Ger- 
trude. Half  an  hour  after  her  skirmish  with 
Emory  she  went  to  the  Chief's  private  sitting- 
room,  opened  the  door,  and  marched  in.  But 
she  looked  older  than  she  was,  and  -her  face  was 
pale. 

Loder  and  Hinton  were  seated  on  opposite 
sides  of  the  big  table,  and  Wilberforce  Matthews 
was  at  a  desk  in  the  corner.  The  mail  from  Cape 
Town  via  London  and  Marseilles  had  just  come 
in,  and  with  it  Le  Gros'  letter  concerning  the  at- 
titude of  the  Bond  Ministry  as  to  the  carriage  of 
materials  for  the  Bulawayo-Zambesi  section  of 
the  Railway  north.  It  looked,  from  what  Le  Gros 
said,  as  if  the  Dutch  Afrikander  element  could 
neither  be  wheedled,  threatened,  nor  bribed  into 
assisting,  and,  as  a  natural  result,  Loder  had 
rather  an  edge  to  his  temper. 


The  Colossus 

"Eh,  what — well?"  he  said  shortly  when  Ger- 
trude appeared. 

Hinton  did  not  turn  round,  but  little  fat  Wil- 
berforce  opened  his  eyes  till  he  looked  like  an 
owl. 

"I  want  to  see  you,  Mr.  Loder,"  said  Gertrude, 
with  a  nervous  catch  in  her  voice. 

"I'm  busy,"  growled  Loder,  turning-  rather 
red,  as  he  sometimes  did. 

"I  can't  help  that,"  cried  Gertrude.  "I've  got 
something  to  say  which  is  of  importance  to  you. 
If  you  like  I'll  sit  and  wait,  but  I  mean  to  say  it, 
if  I  wait  all  day." 

Loder  looked  at  her,  and  looked  away,  and 
then  looked  at  her  again.  This  was  something 
quite  new.  He  had  never  been  spoken  to  like 
that  by  any  woman. 

"Well,  what  is  it?"  he  grunted  with  a  frown. 

"I  want  to  see  you  alone." 

And  Hinton  dropped  his  pen.  This  was  de- 
cidedly getting  interesting. 

"You  can't,"  said  Loder  hurriedly. 

"But  I  will,"  cried  Gertrude.  "Mr.  Hinton, 
please  be  kind  enough  to  go,  and  you  too,  Mr. 
Matthews." 

Emory  half  turned  in  his  chair.  There  was  a 
ring  of  determination  in  this  woman's  voice  that 
suggested  she  meant  scoring  the  first  point  in  the 
203 


The  Colossus 

game,  and  he  knew,  but  for  her  previous  pursuit 
of  the  Chief,  that  she  would  have  found  Loder 
yielding. 

He  looked  at  him  with  interrogation  in  his 
eyes. 

When  Loder  was  confronted  with  something 
entirely  new  in  his  experience,  he  was  apt,  for  a 
moment,  to  appear  as  if  he  were  not  the  creature 
of  mental  bone  and  muscle  that  he  really  was. 
Given  warning  and  adequate  preparation,  he 
could  not  be  rushed.  But  anything  absolutely 
sudden  found  him  a  little  unready.  When  a 
human  tool  broke  in  his  hand,  he  would  stare  at 
the  catastrophe  with  an  absent  inward  eye.  That 
he  could  have  picked  this  man  to  use  shook  his 
judgment  of  himself.  And  now  his  rule  of 
thumb  measurement  of  woman  found  a  limita- 
tion. Gertrude  Broughton  was  in  his  own  private 
sitting-room  without  invitation.  She  faced  him 
palely,  but  without  a  tremor.  She  was  actually 
demanding  a  private  interview.  More  than  that : 
she  was  ordering  his  Secretary  and  his  watch- 
dog out  of  the  roomJ  It  was  very  odd ;  it  was 
paralysing. 

He  sat  with  his  big  plump  hands  on  the  table 
as  if  about  to  rise.  His  jaw  dropped  slightly; 
the  heavy  lines  in  his  face  accentuated  them- 
selves ;  his  head  sank  between  his  shoulders,  and 
204 


The  Colossus 

his  eyes  narrowed  to  a  Hne.  And  the  pinky  flush 
faded  from  his  cheeks.  He  looked  at  Gertrude, 
and  she  met  his  eyes  with  a  frown.  There  was 
not  a  touch  of  feminine  appeal  about  her ;  she  was 
as  hard  as  steel.     She  knew  what  she  wanted. 

"All  right,  you  can  go,  Hinton,"  said  the  Chief. 

But  Matthews  did  not  move.  Gertrude  pointed 
to  him. 

"And  you,"  said  the  Chief  reluctantly.  "Stay 
outside." 

If  this  woman  tried  a  feminine  trick,  he  would 
call  them  back. 

"Now,  what  is  it?"  asked  Loder  nervously 
when  the  door  closed  on  the  two  ejected  ones. 
"I've  got  no  time  to  waste." 

There  was  no  excess  of  politeness  in  his  voice, 
no  suggestion  of  cordiality. 

"I  don't  want  to  waste  your  time,"  said  Ger- 
trude half  angrily.  "I  want  to  stop  you  wasting 
yours." 

For  the  moment  she  almost  hated  him.  Clear 
as  her  vision  had  been  of  him,  she  had  never  seen 
him  as  he  was  now.  He  was  facing  her  as  if  she 
were  a  man  and  an  adversary. 

"Yes  ?"  said  Loder.     "Go  on." 

"You've  not  been  so  extremely  polite  to  me," 
said  Gertrude  with  a  momentary  catch  in  her 
voice  which  made  the  Chief  glance  apprehen- 
205 


The  Colossus 

sively  toward  the  door,  "that  I  should  go  out  of 
my  way  to  serve  you.  But  I've  made  it  my  busi- 
ness to  know  what  you  are  in  Egypt  for.  And  I 
don't  swallow  telegraph-posts,  like  the  Public,  if 
I  am  a  fool  and  a  woman.  Have  you  yet  been 
able  to  break  down  Cazoule's  opposition?" 

"What  have  you  to  do  with  Cazoule  ?"  growled 
the  Chief,  suddenly  awake  and  rigid. 

"I've  a  lot  to  do  with  him,"  said  Gertrude. 
"And  I  can  help  you  to  crush  him.  Do  you  care 
to  know  how  ?  Will  you  condescend  to  treat  me 
so  far  like  a  responsible  human  being  as  to  ask 
me  how  I  can  do  it?" 

Every  word  of  hers  cut  like  a  whip,  for  her 
resentment  read  like  contempt  to  Eustace  Loder. 
He  half  rose. 

"Look  here.  Miss  Broughton;  if  you've  any- 
thing to  say,  say  it.     I've  no  time  to  argue." 

His  voice  broke  in  the  middle. 

"Come  now,"  he  said.     It  was  an  order. 

"Very  well,"  cried  Gertrude.  "Then  I'll  tell 
you." 

To  be  ordered  was  almost  better  than  being 
asked. 

"Would  you  like  to  be  able  to  turn  out  Zohrab 
Bey?"  she  demanded. 

He  answered  with  reluctance: 

"Perhaps." 

206 


The  Colossus 

He  knew  that  it  would  solve  the  main  diffi- 
culty. 

"Then  I  can  help  you  to  do  it." 

He  stared  at  her  with  a  massive  incredulity. 

"I  can,"  said  Gertrude.  "I  hold  him  in  my 
hand.  I  saw  you  were  at  a  deadlock,  and  I  swore 
I  would  do  something.  I  suppose  you  despise 
us  women,  but  I've  done  something  for  you  that 
all  your  men  couldn't  do.    Yes,  I've  done  it." 

She  had  been  sitting  down,  and  now  she  rose 
excitedly. 

"As  I  said,  you've  been  horrid,  beastly  almost, 
to  me,  but  I  wanted  to  do  something  for  you,  so 
that  you  couldn't  say  I  was  a  useless  fool  like 
other  women,  and  I've  done  it " 

Loder  interjected  a  half-grunt,  but  she  waved 
him  down. 

"I'll  tell  you." 

She  sat  again,  right  opposite  him,  and  in  Hin- 
ton's  chair, 

"I'll  try  and  be  clear,  Mr.  Loder.  I  found  out 
that  M.  de  Cazoule  used  his  influence  over  Zoh- 
rab  Bey  to  prevent  the  Khedive  granting  you 
what  you  wanted.  And  I  heard — from  several 
people,  I  won't  tell  you  who — that  if  Zohrab  were 
disgraced,  or  in  danger  of  it,  Cazoule  would  have 
to  withdraw  his  opposition.  So  I  said,  'Then 
isn't  it  possible  to  disgrace  Zohrab?'  And  I  met 
207 


The  Colossus 

him,  and  he  seemed  to  Hke  me.     And  I  saw  I 
could  fool  him." 

She  turned  away  her  eyes,  and  over  her  face  the 
scarlet  ran;  and  she  clenched  her  teeth.  For  a 
moment  she  ceased,  and  then,  with  a  nervous 
shake  of  the  head,  went  on  again,  while  Loder 
jfixed  his  eyes  on  her : 

"And  I  did  fool  him.  I  got  him  to  meet  me 
in  Cairo,  and  it  was  to  be  a  private  meeting." 
She  was  white  now.  "But  I  had  witnesses  there. 
And  I  said  I  was  glad  he  had  come,  and  he  said 
he  hadn't  come  for  sweet  words.  And  I  said, 
No,  I  knew  that,  and  I  gave  him  an  envelope. 
He  thought  it  was  a  photograph,  but  it  wasn't. 
Then  the  men  I  had  there  came  up  and  caught 
hold  of  him " 

"Yes,"  said  Loder.     "Go  on,  go  on !" 

"And  they  said  he  was  a  traitor.  I  went  away. 
But  they  took  the  envelope,  and  in  it  was  money." 

"How  much?"  asked  the  Chief. 

"Two  hundred  thousand  francs." 

"Where  did  you  get  it  ?" 

"It  was  mine,"  said  Gertrude ;  "I  got  it  through 
my  Bank  here." 

"By  God !"  muttered  Loder.  "And  who  were 
the  witnelsses?" 

Gertrude  had  them  on  the  tip  of  her  tongue. 
But  she  did  not  speak. 

208 


The  Colossus 

"Who?"  asked  Loder. 

"I  can't  mention  them  till  they  are  absolutely 
needed,"  she  said,  looking  down. 

She  was  not  going  to  give  up  everything  to 
Loder.  First  let  her  see  what  effect  this  had  on 
him.  Achmet's  word  unsupported  was  nothing; 
hers  or  Hinton's  was  necessary  to  bring  proofs. 
And  as  for  Hinton,  she  knew  she  had  him  in  the 
cleft  stick  of  his  word.  The  more  he  quarrelled 
with  her,  the  more  she  could  trust  him.  And  she 
herself  held  the  envelope  with  the  money  in  it.  It 
was  now  sealed,  and  bore  in  it  a  statement  as  to 
how  it  came  to  be  taken  from  Zohrab,  signed  by 
Achmet  Pacha  and  the  creature  he  had  brought. 
And  Achmet  looked  to  her  for  money.  She  held 
every  thread  in  her  hand. 

"This  is  a  devilish  queer  story,"  said  the  Chief 
at  last.  "How  am  I  to  credit  it  without  corrobo- 
ration ?" 

Then  Gertrude  burst  out  in  an  unsubdued  fury. 

"Do  you  think  I'd  tell  you  a  lie  ?  Can't  you  see 
I'm  telling  the  truth?  I  don't  care  a  damn 
whether  you  credit  it  or  not !" 

And  then  truly  there  was  silence  for  a  space. 
The  word  she  had  used  seemed  to  fill  the  room 
till  the  atmosphere  grew  oppressive  and  heavy. 
Loder  had  never  yet  heard  anything  from  her 
not  sanctioned  by  the  best  traditions  of  the  im- 
14  209 


The  Colossus 

maculate  middle  classes.  It  did  not  shock,  but  it 
convinced  him. 

It  might  have  been  rude  (perhaps  inexcusably 
brutal)  of  him  to  ask  for  corroboration,  and,  by 
asking  it,  to  suggest  the  whole  thing  was  incredi- 
ble. But  though  he  had  listened  for  a  moment 
without  belief,  he  really  did  believe  before  she 
had  finished;  and  having  quite  waked  up  to  all 
possibilities  contained  in  the  situation,  he  was 
asking  how  it  could  be  used.  And  for  it  to  be 
used,  it  must  have  credible  and  likely  support. 

He  got  up  from  the  table  and  walked  to  the 
window.  He  shook  himself  as  if  he  was  half 
awake,  and  began  retracing  his  mental  steps  back 
to  the  point  where  he  had  branched  away  from 
the  path  in  the  intrigue  which  had  led  directly  to 
the  Khedivial  palace.  He  felt  shaken  and  put  out. 
He  had  to  recast  well-considered  plans.  Unless 
warmed  up  to  a  thing  he  was  rather  slow.  His 
mental  machinery  was  heavy;  he  could  not  "re- 
verse" very  suddenly  without  confusing  vibra- 
tions. He  walked  to  and  fro  endeavoring  to  re- 
adjust his  mental  focus.  He  was  not  swift  in 
accommodation. 

As  he  walked,  Gertrude,  with  a  very  pardon- 
able self-delusion,  began  to  imagine  he  must  be 
thinking  of  her.  What  else  could  he  be  thinking 
of?    Was  he  blaming  her  for  the  incorrectness 


The  Colossus 

of  her  conduct?  Perhaps  she  had  ruined  any 
faint  chance  she  had  ever  had  with  him.  If  so, 
she  congratulated  herself  that  she  had  been  strong 
enough  to  keep  control  of  the  issues  in  her  own 
hands.  If  he  showed  himself  ungrateful  she 
would  yet  proclaim  her  power.  And  yet  if  he 
had  come  over  to  her  and  put  his  heavy  hand 
upon  her  shoulder,  and  said,  "Now,  my  dear, 
who  were  the  witnesses?"  she  would  have  been 
wax  before  fire. 

But  what  he  was  thinking  of  was  the  saving 
of  time.  For  Zohrab  to  fall  would  mean  a  vic- 
tory for  England  at  the  court  which  would  con- 
vulse certain  French  ganglia  in  their  inmost  cen- 
tres. It  would  mark  another  decline  of  French 
influence,  which  was  already  an  ebbing  tide.  It 
might  signify  such  an  ebb  that  the  English  would 
be  encouraged  to  abolish  the  Capitulations.  It 
was  a  definite  step  to  a  Protectorate.  If  Loder's 
big  idea  was  a  Confederation  linked  by  the  steel 
bond  of  a  railway,  few,  even  among  his  intimates, 
knew  that  he  wanted  Egypt  in  the  Federation, 
which  was  to  have  two  vice-regal  capitals,  Cape 
Town  and  Cairo  itself.  This  was  his  greatest 
Idea,  after  all. 

Then  he  did  think  of  Gertrude.  Why  had  she 
done  it?  Very  obviously  her  reason  must  have 
been  to  influence  him  in  her  favor,  to  really  draw 


The  Colossus 

his  attention  toward  her.  He  became  uncom- 
fortable, and  glanced  at  her  with  some  disfavor. 
It  was  infernal  and  most  disconcerting  imperti- 
nence. And  yet  such  impertinence,  being  really 
colossal,  would  have  appealed  to  and  conquered 
him  had  she  not  been  a  woman.  He  had  laughed 
when  a  man  was  equally  impudent  merely  to  gain 
an  end  of  his  own.  But  then  Loder,  who  ob- 
jected at  any  time  to  being  under  an  obligation, 
found  special  dislike  within  him  to  being  obliged 
to  any  of  the  opposite  sex.  It  dislocated  his  set- 
tled opinions  of  them ;  for  as  regards  them  he  had 
not  the  plasticity  of  the  ordinary  successful  man 
of  affairs.     They  were — women. 

But  it  was  not  his  nature  to  think  consecu- 
tively, or  with  that  connection  which  can  be  fol- 
lowed logically.  She  was  not  a  Fact,  after  all. 
The  Fact  was  that  Cazoule  should  be  seen  with- 
out delay.  Any  waste  of  time  might  be  fatal. 
He  turned  to  Gertrude  and  hesitated.  He  turned 
away  again,  and  walked  up  and  down  the  room. 

"The  witnesses  !"  he  said  presently.  "Are  they 
such  as  would  be  credited?" 

"Yes,"  said  Gertrude,  with  a  frown  that  the 
Chief  did  not  notice. 

For  a  moment  after  her  outburst  she  had  been 
ashamed  of  herself;  but,  as  Eustace  Loder  went 
off  into  his  own  thoughts  and  did  not  even  look 


The  Colossus 

at  her,  she  began  to  get  angry  once  more.  There 
was  often  something  utterly  indefinable  in  the 
Chief's  manner,  which  vain  people  resented  bit- 
terly. Without  any  intention  of  offending  them, 
he  put  them  in  their  proper  place  by  taking  noth- 
ing but  the  vaguest  interest  in  their  presence. 
Unless  angered  he  was  never  impolite;  but  he 
was  unable  to  reach  the  high  courtliness  of  man- 
ner which  implies  that  the  one  person  present  is 
the  one  person  of  interest.  Gertrude  felt  ig- 
nored ;  she  became  small  in  her  own  eyes ;  her 
cheeks  burnt ;  she  was  being  humiliated  by  the 
silent  part  allotted  her.  And  the  Chief  com- 
pleted her  humiliation. 

"Very  well,  Miss  Broughton,"  he  said  casually, 
"I'll  think  this  over,  and  let  you  know  this  even- 
ing what  can  be  done." 

She  rose  suddenly  and  opened  her  mouth  to 
speak.  But  she  did  not  speak.  Loder's  eye 
passed  over  her,  as  though  it  was  focussed  on  the 
farthest  fixed  star,  and  turning,  she  left  the  room. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

HiNTON  and  Wilberforce  Matthews  had  been 
keeping  guard  outside.  The  Chief  had  ordered 
them  to  stay  there  in  case  his  spirit  quailed  before 
the  Woman. 

"Shall  we  have  to  rush  in  and  save  him  ?"  asked 
little  Matthews.  "Now,  dash  it!  what  does  she 
want?     By  Jove,  she  has  a  cheek!" 

And  Emory  grunted. 

"Have  you  any  notion  what  she's  after?" 

"No,"  growled  Emory,  who  was  upon  tenter- 
hooks. What  was  going  to  be  the  upshot  of  this 
forced  interview?  He  felt  tolerably  certain  that 
the  Chief  would  not  come  out  of  it  in  any  degree 
the  worse.  When  a  woman  attacked  on  her  own 
ground  he  showed  the  white  feather,  but  on  his 
own  a  woman  was  no  more  than  a  man. 

He  lighted  a  cigarette,  and  walked  to  and  fro 
considering  the  matter.  Was  he  at  liberty  now 
to  tell  the  Chief  what  he  knew?  It  seemed  to 
him  that  his  promise  of  secrecy  only  extended  to 
the  time  when  Gertrude  spoke  to  the  Chief.  But 
he  was  suspicious  of  her  ideas  on  the  subject.  If 
214 


The  Colossus 

she  decUned  to  allow  him  to  be  open  with  Mr. 
Loder  now,  what  should  he  do? 

He  had  not  long  to  wait  before  he  discovered 
her  inmost  mind.  His  second  cigarette  was  only 
smoked  half-way  through  when  the  door  opened 
and  Gertrude  B  rough  ton  came  out.  She  looked 
as  black  as  a  thunder-cloud,  and  was  for  passing 
Emory  without  a  word.  But  he  stopped  her 
when  Wilberforce  was  back  in  the  Chief's  room. 

"I  suppose  I  can  speak  to  the  Chief  about  this 
now?"  he  said  hastily. 

She  stopped  dead,  and  stared  him  up  and 
down. 

"You  can  do  nothing  of  the  sort,  Mr.  Hinton. 
I  think  you  pledged  me  your  word  not  to  say 
anything  till  I  gave  you  permission." 

"Indeed,"  said  Emory,  "but  I  think  it  was 
worded  differently.  Didn't  you  say  I  was  not  to 
speak  before  you  did?" 

Gertrude  stamped  on  the  floor. 

"Nothing  of  the  sort.  You  have  to  wait  till  I 
tell  you.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  you  will  keep 
your  word,  just  as  I  take  it  for  granted  that  you 
are  a  gentleman,"  she  cried. 

"You  hinted  that  I  wasn't  this  morning,"  said 
Hinton  angrily.  "And  I  beg  you  to  consider 
that  you  are  putting  me  into  a  most  awkward 
position." 

215 


The  Colossus 

They  glared  at  each  other,  and  then  Gertrude 
laughed  bitterly. 

"I  choose  rather  to  think  of  myself,"  she  said 
with  half  a  sneer;  "I  am  not  obliged  to  think  of 
you.  And  I  didn't  mean  you  were  not  a  gentle- 
man. I  know  you  are,  if  we  are  not  such  friends 
as  we  were,  so  I  can  trust  you." 

She  turned  away;  but  Hinton  would  not  let 
her  go. 

"Am  I  to  keep  silence  forever?" 

"No ;  till  I  give  you  leave,"  cried  Gertrude. 

"It's  not  fair,"  said  Emory;  "you  are  taking 
an  unfair  advantage.  If  you  don't  give  me  per- 
mission within  a  week,  I  shall  ignore  my  promise, 
if  I  did  promise  what  you  say." 

"Then  I  shall  both  think  and  say  you  are  a  cad, 
Mr.  Hinton,"  she  replied  furiously.  "But  you 
won't  do  anything  of  the  sort." 

She  began  walking  away,  but  Emory  followed 
her,  with  a  pale  face  and  blazing  eyes. 

"You  don't  know  what  you  are  doing,"  he 
stammered.  "And,  if  it  comes  to  that,  I  don't 
care  in  the  least  what  you  think  of  me." 

"Leave  me  alone,"  she  said ;  "go  away !" 

Emory  shook  his  head. 

"No;  let's  understand  each  other.  If  you 
don't  give  me  leave  inside  of  a  week,  I  will  tell 
the  Chief  to  send  for  Achmet  Pasha.  I  never 
216 


The  Colossus 

promised  not  to  do  that.  You  are  not  treating 
me  fairly,  and,  by  God!  I'll  treat  you  just  as  I 
would  a  man  in  an  affair  like  this." 

"You  will?" 

"Yes,"  said  Emory.  "If  you  come  into  this 
arena  you  can't  bring  all  your  privileges  with 
you." 

She  looked  at  him  steadily,  and  for  one  mo- 
ment contemplated  boxing  his  ears  in  no  playful 
manner;  but  she  controlled  herself. 

"Very  well ;  I  hold  you  to  your  week,"  she 
said.     "And  don't  ever  speak  to  me  again." 

And  as  Emory  went  back  he  met  Matthews 
coming  out. 

"Have  you  seen  Bontine?  The  Chief  wants 
him." 

"Then,  go  and  find  him,"  said  Emory  shortly. 
"I  don't  keep  Bontine  in  my  pocket," 

The  only  way  to  prevent  Matthews  from  hav- 
ing "swelled  head"  to  a  more  than  normal  extent 
was  to  be  very  rude  to  him.  His  contact  with 
the  Chief  had  probably  ruined  a  passable  jour- 
nahst,  but  Emory  Hinton  did  his  best  to  keep 
him  fairly  sane.  He  blinked  at  Emory  in  some 
astonishment,  but  did  as  he  was  told. 

And  when  Bontine  had  been  with  the  Chief 
for  some  ten  minutes,  the  result  was  not  over 
and  above  pleasant  for  his  late  ward. 
217 


The  Colossus 

He  could  not  deny  that  her  scheme  was  clever, 
that  it  had  within  it  some  of  the  elements  of  suc- 
cess ;  but  while  he  would  have  pardoned  such  an 
escapade  in  another  woman,  he  felt  that  Gertrude 
by  such  action  rather  compromised  him.  And  if 
anything  went  wrong,  if  the  final  outcome  of  the 
intrigue  was  not  success,  he  knew  that  Loder 
would  in  a  sense  hold  him  responsible  for  Ger- 
trude. That  might  be  unjust,  but  it  was  natural ; 
and  when  Bontine  came  upon  her  his  face  was 
flushed,  and  he  was  obviously  angry. 

"What's  this  you've  been  doing?"  he  de- 
manded, without  any  of  his  usual  suavity." 

"What?"  asked  Gertrude,  with  an  air  of  inso- 
lence. 

"Mixing  yourself  up  in  our  business!  You 
know  what  I  mean.     How  dare  you  do  it?" 

She  had  never  seen  him  so  angry,  and  though 
she  was  in  no  way  related  to  him,  and  was  prac- 
tically no  blood  relation  of  Tiny's,  she  felt  for  a 
moment  or  two  the  same  fear  she  had  known 
when  he  was  first  made  her  guardian.  She 
flushed  and  stammered,  and  then  in  defence  lost 
her  temper. 

"I  did  it — yes,  I  did  it,  because  I  wanted  to," 
she  cried. 

"You  had  no  business  to  want  to.     It's  dis- 
graceful, and  you  know  it!"  said  Bontine. 
218 


The  Colossus 

"I  don't  know  it.    And  I'm  a  free  agent." 

She  got  out  of  her  seat. 

"Not  while  you  are  with  us,"  said  Bontine; 
"you've  no  right  to  compromise  me  and  my  wife 
in  a  thing  like  this.  And  let  me  tell  you  plainly 
that  you  are  making  a  fool  of  yourself." 

"How?" 

"How,  indeed?"  asked  Bontine  contemptu- 
ously.   "You  know  how." 

And  she  did.  But  that  made  it  no  more  agree- 
able to  be  told  of  it.    She  turned  away. 

"Stop !"  said  Bontine.  "It  can't  end  here.  As 
you  have  gone  so  far,  you  must  go  further.  Mr. 
Loder  has  told  me  what  you  said.  Be  so  good  as 
to  let  me  know  all  you  have  done." 

And  then  Gertrude  looked  at  him  with  some 
curiosity. 

"Why  should  I  tell  you  ?"  she  asked ;  and  there 
was  so  much  apparent  surprise  in  her  voice  that 
Bontine  saw  he  had  gone  too  far,  if  he  meant  get- 
ting anything  out  of  her. 

"The  infernal  idiot  is  quite  capable  of  spoil- 
ing what  she  has  done,"  he  told  himself  as  he 
remembered  that  he  had  a  character  to  keep  up 
for  being  persuasive.  He  turned  about  and 
walked  up  and  down  the  sheltered  terrace. 
When  he  came  back  to  her  his  face  was  much 
calmer. 

219 


The  Colossus 

"Upon  my  word,  Gertrude,  I  didn't  think  you 
would  have  treated  us  so!"  he  cried  with  forced 
pathos. 

His  altered  manner  touched  her  a  little,  for  his 
kindness  to  her  had  always  been  great. 

"Why,  how  have  I  treated  you,  George?"  she 
asked.    "I  haven't  done  you  any  harm." 

But  Bontine  shook  his  head. 

"That's  more  than  you  or  I  can  say,  my  dear. 
If  things  go  wrong,  Loder  will  think  it  my  fault ; 
and  you  ought  to  know  very  well  that,  though  I 
never  quarrel  with  any  one,  I  have  more  reasons 
not  to  quarrel  with  Loder  than  with  the  rest  of 
the  world." 

Gertrude  shrugged  her  shoulders. 

"But  I  am  not  you,  and  you  can  disown  me." 

Bontine  managed  a  very  natural  laugh. 

"Men  can't  disown  their  feminine  relatives,  my 
dear,  and  you  know  it.  Now  tell  me  all  about 
this?" 

But  Gertrude  shook  her  head. 

"I  can't.  I  told  Mr.  Loder  I  couldn't  tell  him 
more  than  I  did  till  it  is  absolutely  wanted." 

"How  do  you  know  it  is  not  absolutely  wanted 
now?" 

She  stared  at  him. 

"Are  you  and  Mr.  Loder  going  to  see  Cazoule 
at  once?" 


The  Colossus 

"I  can't  quite  say." 

"Then  to-morrow?" 

"Perhaps." 

"But  you  think  that  with  what  I  have  done 
you  can  make  him  agree  to  what  you  want?" 

But  Bontine  was  not  so  very  young. 

"I  believe  we  are  in  the  way  to  do  that,  any- 
how." 

Gertrude  looked  at  him  and  looked  away. 

"Then  you  don't  want  me,  of  course." 

"I  don't  say  that,  for  what  you  have  done 
may  be  very  useful.  It  will  be  an  additional 
weapon." 

Gertrude  sat  down  again  in  her  chair,  and 
spoke  without  looking  at  Bontine. 

"You  said  just  now  I  was  making  a  fool  of 
myself,"  she  remarked  rather  casually. 

"Oh,  did  I?"  asked  Sir  George;  "then  I  apol- 
ogise." 

She  glanced  at  him  for  a  moment. 

"Then,  you  really  think  I  am  not  making  a 
fool  of  myself?" 

"Humph,"  said  Bontine. 

"Well,  I  don't  care  if  I  am,"  said  Ger- 
trude; "but  when  Mr.  Loder  wants  me  he 
has  got  to  come  and  ask  me.  I  went  to  him 
to-day,  but  next  time  he'll  have  to  come  to 
me." 


The  Colossus 

"He  won't,"  cried  Bontine,  "and  you  know  it." 

"He  shall,  and  I  know  it,"  said  Gertrude  with 
a  frown. 

"You  don't  know  him." 

"But  I  mean  to,"  said  she.    "And  I  do  know 

that  if  this  guarantee  isn't  arranged  now  it  will 

be  put  off  for  a  year.     You  say  you  are  in  the 

way  to  persuade  that  Frenchman,  anyhow.    Now 

,  I  know  that  isn't  so." 

And  after  that  Bontine  had  no  more  to  say. 
He  got  up  and  marched  off. 

"He  shall  come  to  me,  whether  I  marry  him 
or  not,"  said  Gertrude ;  "and  until  now  I  never 
quite  knew  what  cackling  geese  men  are.  As  for 
George,  he's  just  like  the  rest,  and  hates  to 
be  under  any  obligation  to  a  woman — and  I'ye 
just  as  much  brains  as  any  of  them.  I  hate 
Emory  Hinton.  But  I've  beaten  them  all — 
all !" 

She  went  to  her  own  room  with  a  feeling  of 
bitter  triumph.  If  she  could  only  so  far  pull 
Loder  off  his  pedestal  as  to  make  him  come  and 
ask  her  assistance,  she  would  be  fairly  well  satis- 
fied for  the  time.  And,  whatever  happened,  she 
had  done  something.  She  was  not  so  useless  as 
most  women — as  Tiny,  for  instance. 

Not  being  herself  married,  she  did  not  know 
to  what  extent  even  the  weakest  woman  can  at- 


The  Colossus 

tain  certain  ends  by  concentrating  her  energies 
on  one  point  instead  of  wasting  them  on  many. 
And  had  Gertrude  thought  of  things  in  this  Ught 
she  would  not  have  acquitted  herself  of  wasting 
her  strength  on  a  very  court  of  men,  even  on  the 
hateful  Emory  Hinton,  to  say  nothing  of  such  a 
little  creature  as  Matthews,  when  better  game 
was  not  on  hand. 

After  an  hour's  self-glorification,  mingled  with 
dread  of  what  Loder  would  say  or  do  when  he 
heard  her  intentions,  she  marched  into  Tiny's 
room,  and  found  that  little  woman  on  a  couch 
reading  a  novel. 

"I  suppose  you  disapprove  of  me,"  said  Ger- 
trude, with  her  arms  akimbo. 

"Don't  be  the  Washerwoman  in  the  play, 
please!"  shrieked  Tiny.  "Oh,  yes,  I  do  disap- 
prove of  you,  and  I  really  always  did.  You  are 
potted,  clotted,  congealed  obstinacy,  and  are  just 
scandalous." 

"I  don't  care !"  said  Gertrude  defiantly. 

But  she  took  her  hands  oflf  her  hips. 

"I  never  imagined  you  did." 

"But  you  know  what  I've  done?" 

Tiny  nodded. 

"George  told  me " 

"In  a  great  hurry  and  with  a  red  face,"  said 
Gertrude. 

223 


The  Colossus 

"You  are  horrid !"  cried  Tiny ;  "and  if  I  wasn't 
your  very,  very  distant  cousin,  I  should  hate  you. 
As  it  is,  you  are  a  curiosity,  and  should  be  in  a 
cage." 

"Where?" 

"Not  on  Table  Mountain,"  said  Tiny,  "so 
there!  But  what  made  you  do  such  dreadful 
dangerous  things  ?    Do  tell  me  all  about  it !" 

"Oh,  yes,  I  dare  say,"  said  Gertrude. 

"Please  do !"  cried  Tiny.  "Was  it  very  excit- 
ing, and  was  he  rude  ?" 

As  Gertrude's  mind  was  deeply  branded  with 
certain  remarks  poor  Zohrab  had  made  about 
female  decoy  ducks,  she  felt  rather  sore  on  the 
point  of  his  rudeness. 

"To  be  sure,  he  was  rude  enough,"  she  said. 

"But  who  was  there?  You  were  not  alone — 
not  altogether  alone  ?  Oh,  say  you  were  !•  That 
would  be  most  exciting!"  said  Tiny,  with  a  won- 
derful air  of  naive  innocence. 

"You  pig!"  said  Gertrude. 

And  Tiny  opened  indignant  eyes  on  her  as- 
sailant. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that?" 

"I  just  mean  it,  in  my  heart  and  all  inside  me," 

said  Gertrude,  "and  I  won't  withdraw  it,  or,  if 

I  do,  I'll  substitute  that  you  are  Tiny  Bontine. 

And  when  George — dear  George! — comes  and 

224 


The  Colossus 

asks  whether  you  got  it  out  of  me,  you  can  say  I 
think  he  is  a  pig,  too.  But  I'm  glad  you  disap- 
prove of  me.  Disapprobation  from  Lady  Hubert 
Bontine  is  praise  indeed." 

"My  name  is  not  Hubert,"  cried  Tiny. 

"Now,  did  I  ever  say  it  was  ?"  asked  Gertrude. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Things  were  made  rather  worse  that  night 
than  they  might  have  been  had  Gertrude  stayed 
away  from  dinner ;  for  as  it  happened,  Sam  Rom- 
ney  came  in  to  that  meal,  after  returning  from 
Alexandria,  and  was  for  some  reason  or  another 
in  his  wildest  spirits.  He  clapped  Hinton  on  the 
back,  and  Emory  snarled.  He  did  the  same  to 
Matthews,  and  that  young  man  collapsed  into  a 
chair. 

"How  are  you  all?"  said  Sam,  as  he  squared 
up  to  his  dinner.  "I'm  glad  to  see  you  so  fresh 
and  lively.  How  do  things  go  ?  Bless  my  soul ! 
I'm  hungry." 

He  was  never  anything  else,  and  Gertrude,  far 
from  hiding  her  light  under  a  bushel  as  she 
should  have  done,  said  so  in  a  flippant  way,  which 
set  every  one's  nerves  tingling.  There  was  a 
challenge  in  her  very  voice. 

"A  nice  lot!  I  don't  care  for  your  disappro- 
bation," was  what  her  tone  said,  and  only  Rom- 
ney  did  not  notice  it.  He  was  busy  dining,  and 
was  doing  it  thoroughly.     But  every  time  he 

226 


The  Colossus 

opened  his  mouth  he  dropped  shells  into  the  en- 
campment. 

"Well,  Miss  Broughton,  have  you  been  schem- 
ing anything  lately  ?"  he  demanded  after  soup. 

"Yes,"  said  Gertrude ;  "I've  been  plotting  to 
get  you  to  take  me  as  a  partner." 

"Then  time  hangs  heavy  on  your  hands,  eh?" 
asked  the  Contractor.  "I  thought  you  and  Mr. 
Hinton  quarrelled  so  nicely  in  the  intervals  that 
you  never  felt  dull." 

There  was  a  chill  silence  for  a  few  seconds. 

"How  did  you  get  on  at  Alexandria?"  asked 
Tiny  hastily. 

"I  didn't  get  on  at  all,"  said  Romney,  "and 
I'm  glad  to  come  back  among  you  to  cheer  you 
up." 

"Everything  you  say  delights  us,"  cried  Ger- 
trude. "And  when  you  come  back  into  the 
scrimmage,  something  will  have  to  give  way." 

And  Loder,  who  was  solid  and  vast  and  va- 
cant-looking, gave  a  grunt. 

"Go  on  talking,  Mr.  Romney,"  she  cried; 
"never  mind  us  if  we  are  a  little  dull.  There's 
never  any  excitement  when  you  are  away." 

Then  Bontine  moved  on  his  chair  uneasily,  and 
in  a  low  tone  damned  Gertrude  to  his  wife. 

"And  how  do  the  telegraph-posts  come  along, 
Loder  ?"  asked  Romney,  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye. 
227 


The  Colossus 

"They  come  in  barges,"  interrupted  Hinton, 
who  knew  Loder  was  rather  volcanic  that  night. 

"That's  the  way  Romney  should  travel,"  cried 
Bontine,  at  last  taking  a  hand  in  the  talk ;  "I  can 
see  him  on  the  Nile  like  Cleopatra,  a  real  Orien- 
tal beauty." 

Romney  grunted  then,  and  burst  into  laughter. 

"And  which  way  am  I  to  go,  north  or  south  ?" 

"Oh,  south  of  course,"  said  Tiny. 

"Yes,"  cried  Gertrude,  "we  talk  South,  but  go 
North." 

"No,"  said  Bontine,  "some  of  us  stay  and  talk 
nonsense,  and  get  no  further." 

"You  can't  mean  that  for  her,"  said  Romney ; 
"I'll  defy  Miss  Broughton  to  get  no  further. 
She's  always  going  too  far." 

He  thought  it  an  excellent  joke,  and  so  it  was. 
Wilberforce  Matthews  burst  into  a  giggle,  which 
he  suppressed  very  suddenly.  For  Loder  ceased 
looking  into  immeasurable  space,  and  stared  at 
him  with  withering  surprise.  Gertrude  smiled 
benignantly. 

"If  you  were  a  box  of  bricks,  Mr.  Matthews, 
how  would  you  like  being  looked  at  by  a  Pyra- 
mid ?"  she  asked. 

Under  ordinary  circumstances,  Emory  would 
have  gone  to  poor  Matthews'  assistance,  but  just 
now  he  was  in  a  temper  to  see  any  one  on  a  grill. 
228 


The  Colossus 

So  he  laughed  and  brought  a  few  coals  to  the  fire. 

"Why  don't  you  answer,  Matthews?  It's  an 
interesting  question,  if  rather  academic." 

"Academic  discussions  are  out  of  place  at  din- 
ner," said  Bontine. 

"So  let  us  return  to  our  former  kindly  humor," 
cried  Gertrude. 

And  all  this  time  Loder  had  said  no  word.  He 
never  shone  in  any  conversation  where  quick- 
ness was  wanted,  unless  it  w^as  a  political  fight 
or  one  of  those  talks,  such  as  he  proposed  having 
with  Cazoule  on  the  morrow.  But  then  he  went 
on  definite  lines,  and  had  the  thing  thrashed  out 
to  the  last  ear  of  wheat  before  the  fight  began. 
His  mind  was  essentially  slow:  he  moved  like  a 
fly-wheel. 

"I  should  like,  if  you  have  no  objection,  to 
take  time  to  consider  my  answer  to  that  ques- 
tion," was  a  common  answer  of  his  when  he  sat 
face  to  face  with  quicker  and  smaller  men. 

Perhaps  this  slowness  and  his  loose  grasp  of 
detail  were  the  two  points  on  which  he  least  re- 
sembled the  great  men  of  action.  Certainly  such 
wants  in  his  character  gave  opportunities  to  those 
who  wanted  to  depreciate  him.  Yet  that  very 
slowness  had  been  in  his  favor  when  he  worked 
in  political  harness  with  the  Cape  Dutch.  It  is  at 
least  possible  to  imagine  that  his  long  partner- 
229 


The  Colossus 

ship  with  them  had  to  some  extent  slackened  his 
mental  pace.  Certainly  he  had  never  met  with 
disaster  until  he  had  allowed  himself  to  be  hur- 
ried by  lieutenants  of  a  quicker-minded  type  than 
the  solid  Afrikanders. 

So  as  he  sat  at  the  table  he  appeared  like  a 
browsing  buffalo  with  flies  about  him.  Even 
Romney  was  more  skilled  in  badinage ;  he  danced 
ponderously  with  the  alert  and  agile  Gertrude, 
who  was  like  a  cat  among  the  most  delicate 
china. 

"What  an  infernal  woman!"  said  Loder  to 
himself. 

He  had  not  the  slightest  feeling  of  gratitude  to 
her  for  shortening  his  path.  To  divest  himself  of 
the  notion  that  the  inferior  creature  woman 
should  attend  to  socks  and  buttons  was  impos- 
sible to  him.  He  felt  toward  her  as  the  actors  in 
some  tremendous  domestic  tragedy  might  feel 
toward  a  sharp  and  dangerous  child  who  had  sur- 
prised their  secret,  and,  with  malicious  glee,  pro- 
posed to  blackmail  them.  That  Gertrude 
Broughton  was  useful,  or  might  be  useful, 
counted  for  nothing,  when  weighed  against  her 
impertinence  and  the  dread  she  inspired  in  him 
merely  as  a  woman  with  decided,  if  strictly  hon- 
orable, intentions. 

So  all  through  the  dinner,  without  knowing 
230 


The  Colossus 

it,  he  wrought  Gertrude  up  to  a  reckless  humor. 
When  she  spoke  to  the  others  she  still  kept  her 
eye  upon  him,  and  tried  his  armor  at  every  point. 
That,  after  what  she  had  done,  he  could  even  now 
show  her  no  real  civility  annoyed  her  to  a  state 
of  controlled  frenzy.  If  he  had  to  talk  to  casual 
women  he  could  do  it  nicely  enough,  but  to  one 
who  had  struggled  to  help  him  he  could  cast 
no  word. 

"He'll  just  send  for  me  and  say,  'Now — 
humph — now,  Miss  Broughton,  please  be  good 
enough  to  let  me  have  all  the  details,' "  said 
Gertrude  savagely,  "and  I'll  say  nothing — noth- 
ing!" 

She  was  sorry  she  had  ever  mixed  herself  up 
with  him  or  with  his  affairs,  and  yet  one  kind 
glance  from  Loder,  even  a  semi-humorous 
glance,  would  have  made  her  reasonable  once 
more,  and  the  thunder-clouds  overhead  would 
have  been  dissipated.  But  Jupiter  sat  on  cloudy 
Olympus,  and  his  would-be  Juno  sulked  afar,  and 
called  the  callous  deity  names. 

But  her  sulking  was  only  in  a  part  of  her  mind ; 
in  her  talk  she  was  active ;  she  balanced  herself 
on  the  extreme  edge  of  abysses,  and  shot  mali- 
cious darts  at  every  one. 

"Did  you  do  as  I  told  you,  Tiny?"  she  de- 
manded with  her  pretty  head  on  one  side,  and 
231 


The  Colossus 

Tiny  looked  at  her  with  wide-eyed  and  alert 
warning. 

"I  mean,  did  you  tell  George  that  he  too  was 
a  pig?" 

Bontine  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"Gertrude!"  cried  her  cousin. 

"But  did  you  ?" 

"I  did  not,"  said  Tiny  firmly. 

"Why  am  I  a  pig,  Gertrude?"  asked  Bontine, 
who  was  not  overpleased. 

"Good  heavens,  how  do  I  know?"  she  said. 
"Why  is  Tiny  herself  a  fluffy  dear,  but  plastic 
and  a  subtle  traitor?  Why  is  Africa  divided 
into  three  parts,  of  which  one  part  is  President 
Kruger,  and  another  Mr.  Loder,  and  the  third 
those  who  sit  upon  fences?  Ask  me  no  riddles, 
or,  if  you  do,  I'll  ask  you  some." 

"I  think  you  are  one,"  said  Bontine  dryly. 

"Can  you  find  me  out?" 

Bontine  let  her  have  it. 

"Yes,  because  you  give  yourself  away,"  he  an- 
swered with  apparent  geniality,  and  there  was 
so  much  possible  bitterness  in  what  he  said  that 
Gertrude  was  in  a  silent  fury.  She  held  her 
tongue  for  five  minutes,  and  Tiny  chattered  like 
a  bird  to  cover  her  disaster.  Not  a  soul  but  was 
glad  when  dinner  was  over. 

"Dear  Sam  Romney,"  said  Gertrude  as  they 
232 


The  Colossus 

rose,  "my  dear  big  Sam,  have  you  arranged  for 
that  concert?'' 

She  had  never  called  him  Sam  before,  and  that 
she  did  so  pleased  the  big  blue-eyed  giant. 

"What  concert?" 

"You  know  you  promised  to  do  here  what  you 
do  everywhere,"  she  cried,  laughing. 

"Would  you  really  like  it?"  asked  Sam  with 
twinkling  eyes.  "Bless  you!  I  could  do  it  to- 
night if  you  liked." 

Gertrude  clapped  her  hands. 

"Oh,  what  fun !    Yes,  let's !" 

She  marched  away  with  him. 

"Damn,  she's  getting  clean  out  of  hand,"  said 
Bontine  to  his  wife.  "As  soon  as  we  get  this 
thing  through  we'll  go  !" 

"She's  in  a  most  dangerous  temper,"  cried 
Tiny.    "I  can't  manage  her  a  bit." 

And  then  Bontine  followed  Loder. 

"Very  well,"  said  the  Chief,  "I'll  get  Cazoule 
to  come  here  to-morrow,  and  we'll  pull  it 
through." 

"I  hope  so,"  said  Bontine  a  Uttle  doubtfully. 

"You  believe  this  story  of  hers  ?"  asked  Loder. 

"To  be  sure,"  said  Bontine;  "but — but — 
couldn't  you  manage  to  smooth  her  down  a  bit  ? 
If  you  could  just  speak  to  her  nicely  at  break- 
fast, for  instance." 

233 


The  Colossus 

And  the  clouds  rolled  once  more  upon  Olym- 
pus. 

"Why  the  deuce  should  I  ?"  demanded  Jupiter 
gruffly. 

And  Bontine  shrugged  his  shoulders.  If  the 
Chief  could  not  see  that  it  was  touch  and  go  with 
her  now,  he  might  find  it  out  to-morrow.  They 
sat  together  and  planned  how  to  explode  their 
doubtful  bomb  under  the  recalcitrant  French- 
man. 

"He  is  sure  to  be  a  little  nervous,"  said  Bon- 
tine, "for  there  are  flying  rumors  of  Zohrab's 
impending  disgrace.  And  when  I  saw  Powell  to- 
day, he  was  Hke  a  cat  on  hot  bricks." 

"Ah,"  said  Loder,  that's  the  man  I'd  like  to 
pull  down.  If  we  could  only  disgrace  him 
openly,  I'd  give  a  hundred  thousand  pounds. 
But  that's  the  worst  of  things  here.  Hello,  what's 
that?" 

He  might  well  ask  the  question,  for  from  Sam 
Romney's  balcony  there  was  a  sudden  burst  of 
music. 

"It's  that  mad  devil,  Romney,  with  a  band 
again,"  sighed  Bontine.  "He's  fetched  in  his 
private  orchestra,  as  he  calls  it." 

For,  as  one  has  seen,  Romney  had  a  wild  and 
barbaric  passion  for  noise.  It  came  from  his 
exuberance  of  vitality ;  from  his  childlike  nature : 
234 


The  Colossus 

he  marched  like  a  savage  to  the  sounds  of  war. 
It  was  not  that  he  knew  anything  of  music  in 
itself;  though  he  at  times  instructed  his  hired 
men  to  play  something  of  Wagner's,  what  ap- 
pealed to  him  in  some  of  that  composer's  works 
was  its  apparent  vast  disorder :  its  savage  human 
cries,  its  revolt  against  the  usual.  There  was  an 
enormous  element  in  Romney  of  revolt;  he  ran 
amuck  with  prodigious  energy  when  he  could  not 
throw  himself  into  work.  And  his  perpetual 
health  made  him  immortally  young ;  his  disregard 
of  regulation  and  ordinance  was  infantine. 

"How  I  wish  it  was  cold,"  said  Gertrude,  "and 
then  I  could  warm  my  hands  at  you!" 

But  now  she  inspired  him  with  preposterous 
notions;  they  played  like  children — she  in  her 
balcony  and  he  in  his,  where  he  had  his  illegal 
band. 

"The  Hotel  people  will  be  coming  to  remon- 
strate," laughed  Gertrude,  and  Sam  shook  with 
mighty  glee. 

"I've  got  my  doors  locked;  the  manager  is 
banging  on  the  panels  now!"  he  cried.  His 
laughter  was  an  instrument  in  the  orchestra;  it 
turned  a  devilish  tarantella  into  something  kindly 
and  human, 

"Play  up,  my  boys !"  he  shouted.  "Give  it  lipl 
go  it!" 

235 


The  Colossus 

He  marched  to  and  fro  Hke  a  drum-major;  he 
was  as  proud  as  a  piper  on  parade;  he  marked 
time  with  magnificent  irregularity,  using  a  thick 
oak-plant  as  a  baton.  The  band  sweated;  they 
laughed  as  they  played;  their  extraordinary  pa- 
tron cheered  then  to  the  assault. 

"Oh,  this  is  fine !"  he  shouted  through  the  din, 
and  in  the  corridor  the  manager  wailed  like  a 
flute,  and  waiters  ran  to  and  fro,  as  agitated  ants 
run,  appeasing  in  many  languages  indignant  win- 
tering dowagers.  The  manager  drummed  on  the 
door ;  he  calculated  bills  of  damages  and  squeaked 
vast  sums  of  francs  that  should  be  the  war  in- 
demnity when  at  last  Victory  perched  upon  his 
banners.    But  Romney  neither  heard  nor  heeded. 

He  seized  a  clarionet  from  one  exhausted 
player,  and  by  a  marvellous  chance  blew  a  blast 
that  was  like  a  big  paint-mark  on  a  page  of 
music. 

"I  did  it  that  time,"  said  Sam  proudly.  "By 
Jove!  I  get  on,  don't  I?" 

"You  do  indeed,  you  dear!"  cried  Gertrude. 

"Oh,  I  wish  I  had  a  concertina,"  he  shouted; 
"the  worst  of  these  instruments  is  that  one  can't 
always  make  'em  sound,  but  you  can  punish  a 
concertina  every  time :  it  just  has  to  sing  out !" 

"So  it  has,"  laughed  Gertruae,  with  a  catch  in 
her  side.    "Oh,  dear,  I  shall  die !" 
236 


The  Colossus 

Then  Tiny  came  out  on  the  balcony  and  re- 
monstrated. 

"Gertrude,  Gertrude,  this  isn't  right!  Come 
in,  I  beg." 

But  Gertrude  was  not  to  be  put  down. 

'T  can't  and  won't  and  shan't  come  in.  Go 
to  bed.  Tiny,  and  leave  me  alone.  I  won't  be 
worried.  Did  I  tell  you  my  doctor  said  I  was  not 
to  be  worried  ?  Then,  if  I  didn't,  please  imagine 
I  did." 

"Bless  you.  Lady  Bontine!  it's  all  right,"  said 
Romney ;  "now  I  don't  find  Cairo  dull." 

"Oh,"  said  Tiny,  "don't  you?" 

Then  he  played  the  conductor  with  the  clari- 
onet, and  the  musicians  fell  to  pieces;  the  men 
with  the  wind  instruments  were  like  punctured 
tires;  they  whistled  feebly  with  half-controlled 
laughter,  and  through  the  failing  strains  rose  the 
scream  of  the  manager : 

"Monsieur,  monsieur,  c'est  absolument  de- 
fendu !  J'entamerai  un  proces  dommages-interets 
— sacrogneugneu !" 

"What's  he  saying?"  asked  Romney. 

"He  says  he  doesn't  mind  if  they  play  the 
Walkiirenritt,"  said  Gertrude. 

"Right  you  are,  old  boy!"  yelled  Romney. 
"Here,  sonny,  take  the  clarionet  and  blow." 

Then  there  was  silence  for  a  moment,  and  the 
237 


The  Colossus 

manager  hoped.  But  presently  the  Horses  gal- 
loped upon  murky  air,  and  again  he  erected  a 
proces-verhal  in  mixed  languages  agfainst  this 
mad  Destroyer  of  Peace, 

"What's  he  at  now?"  asked  Romney. 

"It's  applause,"  said  Gertrude;  "he  says  he 
likes  trombones !" 

"Wait  till  this  rot  is  over,  then,"  cried  Sam, 
"and  I'll  give  him  a  solo !  If  it  costs  me  the  con- 
tract price  of  a  mile  of  railway  in  a  Fashoda 
swamp,  I'll  enjoy  myself  to-night!" 

He  leant  over  the  balcony  into  the  garden. 
Electric  lights  gleamed  under  palms  and  among 
oleanders;  the  people  strolled  to  and  fro,  though 
most  were  gathered  near  the  unofficial  band. 

"Is  that  you,  Hinton?"  asked  the  Bandmaster. 

"It  is,"  said  Hinton. 

"Then  come  up  and  sing  a  duet  with  Miss 
Broughton,  and  I'll  conduct." 

"I  have  no  voice  to-night,"  said  Emory.  "But 
go  on  conducting ;  or  won't  you  play  the  'cello  ?" 

"I'll  not  play  any  more  to-night,  my  boy.  I'm 
the  conductor.  Now,  then,  boys,  play  up!  Miss 
Broughton !" 

But    there    was    no  answer.     He  turned  and 
found  Gertrude  had  gone.    And  though  he  called 
she  returned  no  more,  but  sat  in  her  dark  room 
with  sullen  anger  in  her  heart. 
238 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Loder's  rooms  were  far  enough  from  Romney  s 
centre  of  noise  to  be  undisturbed.  He  only 
smiled  when  he  heard  that  the  big  Contractor  was 
bent  on  having  one  of  his  occasional  musical 
nights.  The  sound  of  the  distant  band  floated 
round  the  corner  and  was  not  unpleasing  to  him ; 
even  the  interpolated  squeal  of  the  clarionet  was 
softened  and  seemed  accidental. 

"We  shouldn't  be  long  now,"  said  Loder,  and 
in  his  mind  he  beheld  Cairo's  minarets  disappear 
in  golden  haze. 

"May  I  never  come  here  again  till  I  come 
up  from  the  South !" 

He  saw  Table  Mountain  then  and  the  great 
curve  of  beach  that  edged  the  Flats  with  silver. 
Round  behind  Devil's  Peak  lay  his  home.  There, 
too,  was  the  hard-headed  and  obstinately  faithful 
Le  Gros,  his  lightning-conductor,  his  odium- 
bearer.  What  a  pity  the  Bond  Ministry  wouldn't 
be  persuaded  to  do  what  they  should  have  done. 
Ah,  what  a  pity  it  all  was ! 

But  he  knew  (as  he  always  had  known)  that 
the  hour  for  his  parting  with  the  Afrikander 

239 


The  Colossus 

Bond  had  only  been  ^  question  of  time.  True  it 
was  that  the  divorce  had  been  abrupt  and  unex- 
pected, but  it  had  to  come. 

As  he  lay  back  in  his  chair  by  the  windows 
a  thousand  shadows  flitted  through  his  formless 
and  chaotic  reverie.  His  old  colleagues  rose  like 
ghosts;  he  heard  Meyer's  soft  voice,  he  saw  the 
bitter-sweet  smile  of  thin  John  Merrian.  Though 
Bontine  was  close  at  hand,  he  met  him  now  walk- 
ing briskly  in  Adderley  Street ;  he  saw  Berwick 
smile  benignantly  and  wipe  imaginary  dust  from 
his  clean  spectacles.  Twenty  years  ago  the  ox 
wagons  sank  to  their  axles  in  that  street.  His 
mind  was  a  kaleidoscope.  How  long  ago  had  he 
thought  out  the  northern  extension  ?  He  recalled 
with  subdued  massive  exultation  the  day  when 
in  his  own  mind  he  first  thought  of  Cairo  as  the 
northern  capital  of  United  British  Africa.  To  cut 
the  word  "South"  out  of  that  title  was  in  its  way 
a  stroke  of  genius. 

As  he  mused  he  heard  Linlithgow  speak  when 
he  warned  that  aloof  politician  of  the  danger  that 
the  French  might  come  in  from  the  Upper  Niger. 
He  owed  a  good  deal  to  Linlithgow.  And  after 
all,  Ewart  had  swallowed  the  key  to  South  Africa 
in  time. 

He  went  south  to  Bechuanaland  and  saw  the 
vast  Kalahari  stretch  out  to  German  South 
240 


The  Colossus 

Africa.  Well,  the  time  would  come,  perhaps, 
when  the  German  would  pack  out  of  Damara- 
land.  Loder's  passion  for  completions  would  not 
be  satisfied  while  any  alien  race  lorded  it  south  of 
the  Zambesi. 

As  he  sat  thinking  vaguely,  he  looked  out 
upon  the  violet  sky.  Under  it  stretched  the 
formless  desert  as  vast  as  the  illimitable  nature 
of  man,  as  vast  as  his  own  uncharted  concep- 
tions. 

They  said  of  him  that  he  could  think  of  only 
one  subject  at  a  time,  and  in  a  way  those  who 
said  it  were  right.  Only  with  infinite  difficulty 
and  a  certain  shamefaced  inarticulateness  could 
he  have  showed  the  varied  workings  of  his  mind, 
which  were  like  mixed  and  mingling  penumbras 
about  the  darker  cone  of  shadow  that  was  his 
more  obvious  preoccupation.  That  he  thought 
now  of  the  morrow's  final  outcome  of  long-pre- 
pared schemes,  brought  suddenly  to  a  head  by 
what  appeared  an  accident,  did  not  stop  his 
dreaming.  Across  the  stage  of  his  thoughts  passed 
many  dim  processions,  lighted  here  and  there  by 
the  quick  flash  of  stronger  remembrance.  In 
such  an  hour  the  process  of  thought  at  the  back 
of  thought  is  fantastic  and  surprising. 

He  recalled  with  photographic  precision  the 
face  of  one  of  the  "boys"  at  Bulawayo, 
x6  241 


The  Colossus 

"We  are  going  to  Belingwe,  Mr.  Loder.  There 
are  five  of  us." 

"And  you  are  making  a  httle  syndicate,  I  sup- 
pose? Well,  now,  and  would  you  let  me  come 
in?" 

So  he  paid  his  hundred  pounds  or  so,  and 
promptly  forgot  it.  But  in  the  minds  of  the  men, 
who  went  gold-hunting  to  the  place  of  the 
Slaughter  of  Leopards,  was  a  deeper  loyalty  to 
the  Chief.  He  did  take  a  real  interest  in  them, 
and  looked  on  them  as  his  family. 

He  saw  "Johann"  Brander  come  riding  down 
the  road.  A  good  man,  and  a  good  Dutch  Afri- 
kander; never  a  better  type  betwixt  Cape  Town 
and  Nylstrom,  between  Durban  and  Walfisch 
Bay.  A  hard  man  and  a  keen,  a  Viking  weapon, 
forged  from  good  steel.  To  hear  him  laugh  was 
a  tonic.  With  a  subdued  chuckle  Loder  recalled 
Hinton's  story  of  Johann's  inviting  a  stray  Eng- 
lishman, wrecked  temporarily  by  malaria,  to  go  a 
drive  with  him  for  the  sake  of  his  health,  and  his 
taking  the  man  out  in  a  tandem  with  unbroken 
horses,  one  of  them  a  racer.  For  "Johann"  had 
no  nerves,  and  was  as  cool  in  the  Matoppos 
among  the  insurgent  Matabele  as  under  his  own 
veranda. 

Then  Loder  saw  old  Lobengula  with  his  hard, 
strong  face,  a  strange  type  among  the  Zulus  and 
242 


The  Colossus 

the  children  of  Msiligazi.  Oh,  but  that  was  a 
terrible  time !  Well,  there  had  been  brutal  hours 
in  the  making  of  India.  Clive  and  Hastings  had 
their  reverses ;  they,  too,  had  faced  an  opposition. 

Sometimes,  in  these  rare  introspective  hours, 
he  wondered  where  History  would  place  him, 
when  he  at  last  was  dust.  He  knew  that  fame 
worked  mostly  with  a  big  meshed  sieve ;  he  knew, 
too,  that  a  final  calamity  outweighed  a  noble  cat- 
alogue of  arduous  deeds.  But  still  he  might  stand 
well  among  the  throng  of  those  who  made  Em- 
pires. If  Caesar  and  his  like  were  above  him,  he 
was  not  unconfident  of  his  own  claims  to  rest 
among  the  third  order  of  great  men,  in  the  Val- 
halla of  daring  Clive,  of  cunning  Hastings,  of 
iron-fisted  Bismarck.  At  any  rate,  he  was  pre- 
pared to  take  responsibility. 

Yet  such  men  as  these  in  many  ways  had 
easier  tasks.  Nowadays  not  a  step  was  taken 
without  rousing  moral  cavillers,  who  forgot,  or 
never  knew,  that  to  be  moral  in  dealing  in  big 
things  was  to  ignore  the  fine  and  small  morality 
between  man  and  man.  The  world's  air  was  full 
of  moral  mosquitoes.  And  then,  in  an  Empire 
like  the  British  Empire,  the  problem  of  squaring 
"The  least  we  Want"  with  "The  most  we  can 
Get"  was  unceasing  and  each  day  harder. 

To  justify  himself  before  God  or  Man  was  not 
243 


The  Colossus 

a  thing  that  often  occurred  to  Eustace  Loder. 
But  he  was  sometimes  dimly  conscious  that  he 
needed  a  justification,  an  apologia.  He  knew  the 
ordinary  attempts  to  justify  such  a  man  as  him- 
self on  current  morality  led  to  special  pleading  of 
a  hypocritical  kind.  Perhaps  it  was  necessary  to 
prate  about  carrying  religion  and  the  blessings 
of  civilisation,  but  it  was  pretty  sickening.  The 
true  justification  was,  "That  it  can't  be  helped." 
To  control  a  growing  Empire  is  as  impossible  as 
to  control  a  growing  town.  How  many  times 
had  French  Kings  set  vain  bounds  to  Paris  ? 

He  came  back  again  to  Egypt,  and  felt  himself 
strong.  There  he  was  well  in  touch  with  the 
English  Army,  that  understood  him  by  instinct 
and  by  its  traditions.  If  it  were  possible  for  Bul- 
len  and  Lowry  to  make  a  Council  of  Three  and 
carry  England  with  them!  But  then,  what  of 
India,  and  Persia,  and  China,  and  the  Continent 
of  Europe?  Poor  Enfield  really  must  have  a 
devil  of  a  time  making  the  Impossible  possible 
and  the  Crooked  straight.  He  could  give  no 
more  help  in  Africa  than  he  was  obliged  to  give. 
No  wonder,  after  all,  that  the  Prime  Minister  had 
little  initiative.  It  was  a  good  thing  that  it  was 
not  necessary  to  push  desperately  for  an  Eng- 
lish Protectorate  on  the  Nile. 

Certainly  the  French  would  not  face  with  calm- 
244 


The  Colossus 

ness  the  prospect  of  Zohrab's  fall.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  they  never  faced  anything  with  calmness, 
but  if  the  Head  of  the  Household  went  they 
would  feel  the  Egyptian  world  crumbling  about 
their  ears.  He  had  been  a  very  present  help  to 
them  in  trouble ;  there  was  no  doubt  of  that,  the 
more  so  because  even  his  enemies  believed  him 
not  only  honest,  but  stupid.  Cazoule  had  shown 
absolute  confidence  in  Zohrab's  holding  his  posi- 
tion. But  now  he  must  be  less  sure.  Would  he 
come  when  he  was  sent  for,  or  would  it  be  best 
to  go  and  see  him  ?  If  he  came  at  once  and  with- 
out demur,  it  would  be  a  sign  that  he  felt  shaken. 
If  he  refused,  then  the  shock  of  the  threatened 
exposure  might  come  the  more  suddenly  on  him. 
He  would  in  any  case  have  to  climb  down,  and 
either  throw  over  the  French  Government,  which 
meant  losing  an  extra  government  two  and  a  half 
per  cent.,  or  lose  that  two  and  a  half  per  cent, 
with  the  rest.  The  financial  houses  backing  him 
wanted  to  come  at  any  price. 

So  Romney  and  Oppenheimer  would  win,  after 
all.  It  is  a  question  whether  Loder  was  utterly 
pleased  with  that,  for  Romney  had  been  a  trifle 
unaccommodating,  and  unaccommodating  for 
reasons  with  which  Loder  had  little  sympathy. 
Private  predilections  ought  not  to  influence 
national  business :  he  felt  sure  of  that. 
245 


The  Colossus 

It  would  be  a  big  thing,  though,  to  be  able  to 
announce  that  the  much-talked-of  Railway  was 
not  a  thing  to  be  talked  of,  but  a  thing  to  be  done. 
It  would  be  a  slap  in  the  face  for  France.  They 
would  have  the  air  left  to  join  their  Soudan  to 
Djiboutil.  It  would  take  a  very  strong  trick  in 
the  game  with  the  Bond  down  South.  It  would 
make  the  Transvaal  clique  as  sick  as  the  Anglo- 
German  agreement  about  Delagoa  Bay  when  it 
came  out.  The  game  was  going  well,  after  all. 
He  had  not  bragged  on  nothing  when  he  told  the 
crowd  at  Kimberley  that  his  political  career  was 
only  just  beginning.  It  zvas  only  just  beginning, 
after  all ;  and  when  the  awakened  English  public 
saw  it,  they  would  insist  on  Enfield  backing  the 
right  horse  this  time,  even  when  the  Sultan  of 
Turkey  remonstrated  against  the  absorption  of 
Egypt  into  United  British  Africa. 

So  once  more  he  came  back  Caesar-like  to  his 
Capital  Cairo,  and  its  domes  and  minarets 
sparkled  even  more  graciously  than  they  had  done 
when  he  left  it.  He  saw  a  Federated  Parliament 
of  Africa  in  the  very  Khedivial  palace,  and 
chuckled  for  a  brief  moment  as  the  member  for 
Stellenbosch,  who  was  also  Minister  for  African 
Railways,  rose  to  defend  his  policy  against  the 
members  for  Blantyre  and  Assouan  and  Cairo, 
and  to  bring  in  a  Bill  to  complete  the  lacking  sec- 
246 


The  Colossus 

tions  between  the  Euphrates  Valley  line  to  India 
and  Jerusalem,  thus  joining  Cape  Town  and  Cal- 
cutta. Well,  after  all,  stranger  things  had  hap- 
pened in  this  round  world  of  changing  changeful 
things,  though  it  might  be  that  the  strength  of 
Loder,  the  persuasion  of  Bontine,  and  the  laugh- 
ter of  Gargantuan  Romney  were  less  then  than 
the  legends  of  Thothmes  himself. 

Thus  the  race  marched  onward,  and  for  a  lit- 
tle while  a  man  controlled,  or  seemed  to  control, 
its  destinies.  But  behind  it  was  Destiny  itself, 
and  all  the  centuries  that  prophetic  insight  could 
view  were  no  more  than  one  To-morrow  in  the 
infinite  Calendar  of  Time. 

So  Eustace  Loder  shook  himself  after  reverie 
like  a  big  dog  upon  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  and 
smoked  a  long  black  cigar  upon  the  balcony  as  he 
watched  the  fire-fly  lights  of  the  town.  He  hardly 
knew  he  had  been  thinking,  and  if  some  intruder 
had  said,  "Well,  Loder,  what  was  in  your  mind 
just  now?"  he  would  have  replied,  "I  think  I  must 
have  been  asleep." 

For  he  had  no  love  of  telling  his  visions,  even 
in  the  Land  where  the  Great  King  had  dreamed 
of  the  Lean  and  Fat  Kine. 


CHAPTER  XX 

There  was  an  air  of  subdued  excitement  and 
tension  about  every  one  in  the  party,  except  Rom- 
ney,  on  the  day  following.  For  big  Sam,  not  be- 
ing yet  in  the  secret,  was  just  the  same  as  ever — 
jovial,  genial,  humorous.  To  Gertrude,  who  did 
not  really  know  him  well,  it  seemed  that  he  must 
sit  at  his  desk  and  sublet  contracts  with  the  air  of 
a  Master  of  the  Revels.  He  used  his  very  exu- 
berance of  health  as  a  stalking-horse,  and  under 
cover  of  it  shot  like  Teucer. 

Hinton,  who  was  debarred  from  any  confidant 
by  the  terms  of  his  agreement  with  Gertrude, 
never  had  a  more  unpleasant  time  in  his  life  than 
he  was  experiencing  now.  His  duty  to  the  Chief, 
his  affection  and  his  loyalty  together,  reproached 
his  silence  and  his  trapped  honor.  For  Loder 
could  inspire  both  afifection  and  loyalty,  and 
though  many  were  loyal  who  did  not  love  him, 
their  loyalty  had  that  kinship  with  patriotism 
which  carries  with  it  a  quality  of  passion.  And 
Hinton  really  regarded  him  with  devotion.  If  it 
were  only  possible  to  postpone  action  for  six  days 
more!  But  he  dared  not  suggest  it.  He  had  no 
248 


The  Colossus 

reason  to  offer,  and  an  unsupported  suggestion 
of  this  kind  would  bring  an  artillery  fire  of  ques- 
tions upon  him.  He  hated  Gertrude  now  with 
bitter  hatred,  and  was  astounded  to  remember  he 
had  ever  come  near  asking  her  to  marry  him. 
They  did  not  speak  at  breakfast.  For  the  matter 
of  that,  there  was  little  time.  Gertrude  drank  a 
cup  of  coffee,  and  went  away  when  she  saw 
Loder  returning  from  his  morning  gallop  to  the 
Pyramids. 

But  though  she  avoided  Hinton  because  she 
dreaded  in  her  nervous,  excited  state  any  combat 
but  that  she  thought  she  was  prepared  for,  she 
did  not  decline  to  talk  with  her  cousin.  If  Tiny 
had  in  a  way  played  the  traitor,  Gertrude  knew 
she  was  so  much  under  the  influence  of  Bontine, 
who  was  Influence  personified  with  all  who  be- 
lieved they  knew  him,  that  she  forgave  her.  And 
Tiny,  having  been  discovered,  was  more  than 
usually  nice.  For  she  had  the  very  sweetest  na- 
ture possible,  and  was  quite  accustomed  to  be 
worsted  in  petty  half-satiric  conflicts  with  the 
feline  Gertrude.  And  that  leopardess,  if  still 
cross  and  liable  to  tail-lashing  when  Loder  came 
under  her  tree,  was,  by  reason  of  apparent 
Pyrrhic  victory,  open  to  sympathetic  treatment. 

'T  wouldn't  really  have  told,  Gertrude,"  said 
Tiny  after  breakfast  was  over. 
249 


The  Colossus 

"You  wouldn't?" 

"Not  if  you  had  asked  me  not  to." 

"But  it  was  true  George  set  you  on?"  asked 
Gertrude. 

"Well,  I  wouldn't  have  told,"  said  Tiny.  "But 
it  must  have  been  brave  of  you.  Perhaps  you'll 
tell  me  all  about  it  some  day," 

Gertrude  nodded. 

"You  think  I'm  a  fool.  Tiny?" 

Tiny  gave  an  almost  imperceptible  shrug  of 
her  shoulders. 

"My  dear,  dear  girl,  I  see  more  and  more 
every  day  that  all  women  are  fools  where  men 
are  concerned.  It's  just  the  same  the  other  way 
about.  Men  are  fools  too.  But  the  worst  of  it 
is  we  are  silly  fools." 

She  spoke  with  a  birdlike  air  of  gravity. 
Jenny  Wren  philosophised. 

"It's  because — oh,  it's  just  because  we  can't 
help  it.  But  Mr.  Loder  isn't  a  human  being. 
Didn't  I  tell  you  before  that  he's  just  like  the 
veldt?" 

"And  you  compared  me  with  a  koodoo,"  said 
Gertrude.  "But  I  don't  care.  Tiny;  I've  done 
what  will  help  him.  I  said  I  would.  I  don't  care 
a  bit  about  his  beastly  old  railway,  and  I  hate 
Cairo ;  but  if  he  wanted  the  Pyramids  to  eat,  I'd 
try  to  butter  them  for  him,  just  out  of  spite." 
250 


The  Colossus 

Tiny  smiled. 

"But  he  wouldn't  have  indigestion,  my  dear. 
If  he  ever  swallows  Egypt — and  I'm  sure  he 
wants  to — he'll  be  like  a  big  snake  for  a  few 
weeks,  and  then  he'll  crawl  into  Palestine " 

"And  take  Jerusalem  on  toast,"  said  Gertrude 
with  something  halfway  between  a  laugh  and  a 
sob.  For  that  was  what  she  liked  about  him.  To 
see  him  eat  up  Africa  almost  set  her  weeping 
with  admiring,  exultant  astonishment. 

"And,  after  all,  I  do  care  about  the  railway," 
she  admitted  presently. 

"Well,  you  will  have  done  something  for  it." 
said  Tiny  softly,  as  she  laid  her  hand  on  Ger- 
trude's. 

"You're  a  dear!"  cried  Gertrude.  "And  I 
forgive  you.     And  you're  not  a  pig.     He's  the 

pig!" 

"Who?"  asked  Tiny  rather  tartly. 

"Not  George,  but  Mr.  Loder." 

"I'm  glad  you  feel  that  way " 

"I  don't,"  cried  Gertrude;  "but  I'm  just  glad 
that  he'll  have  to  come  to  me  and  be  civil,  and  ask 
me  to  help." 

Tiny  looked  at  her. 

"Do  you  really  think  he  will?" 

"He  shall." 

But  Tiny  shook  her  head. 
251 


The  Colossus 

"He  shall,"  repeated  Gertrude.  "I  don't  sup- 
pose now  that  I  shall  ever  marry  him,  and  per- 
haps I  don't  want  to,  but  he  shall  come  and  ask 
me  to  help,  or  I  won't." 

Tiny  pursed  up  her  lips. 

"If  he  sent  for  you,  wouldn't  you  go?" 

"I  wouldn't,"  said  Gertrude. 

"Then  I  believe  he'd  come  and  shake  you," 
said  Tiny. 

Gertrude  opened  her  mouth,  and  caught  her 
breath. 

"If  he  did  that,  I'd  do  it,"  she  cried. 

"Do  what?" 

"What  he  wanted,  of  course,"  snapped  Ger- 
trude ;  "what  would  you  do  ?" 

"If  Mr.  Loder  came  and  shook  me?" 

"Yes,  what  would  you  do?" 

"Oh,  dear,"  said  Tiny,  "I  don't  think  he'd  ever 
dare;  but  if  he  did  I  should  feel  as  if  Table 
Mountain  fell  on  me,  and  my  wits  would  go.  So 
how  can  I  tell  what  I  should  do?" 

She  looked  as  if  she  resented  having  disturb- 
ing questions  asked. 

"I  hope  he  will  shake  me,"  said  Gertrude,  with 
half-humorous  shamefacedness. 

Tiny  pressed  her  hand. 

"I — I  hope  he  will,  dear,"  she  murmured. 

Gertrude  rose  in  sudden  agitation. 
252 


The  Colossus 

"But  he  won't,"  she  cried,  and  went  away  with- 
out another  word. 

"No — o,  Fm  afraid  he  won't,"  said  Tiny. 
"Well,  we  are  fools!" 

And  in  the  meantime  Bontine  and  Loder  were 
considering  how  to  deal  with  Cazoule. 

"It's  possible,  with  the  rumors  going  about, 
that  he  will  crawl  down  without  much  trouble," 
said  Loder,  as  he  chewed  a  pen. 

"You  think  him  a  strong  man?"  asked  Bon- 
tine. 

"Cazoule  qua  Cazoule  isn't  so  much,"  said 
Loder,  "but  qua  representative  he's  all  right." 

"The  distinction  doesn't  serve  us." 

"Perhaps  not,"  grunted  Loder. 

He  was  not  easy  in  his  mind. 

"What's  your  notion?"  asked  Bontine,  who 
knew  what  the  trouble  was. 

"I'd  rather  get  him  down  without  using  any 
one  outside,"  said  Loder,  looking  out  of  the  win- 
dow. 

"So  would  I.    But  if  we  can't?" 

For  once  in  a  way  there  was  irresolution  upon 
Loder's  face.  He  rarely  showed  it,  for  when  he 
came  out  into  the  arena,  though  it  was  the  small- 
est, he  had  usually  made  up  his  mind. 

"We'll  see,"  he  said  hastily.    "But  what  shall 
we  do  about  bringing  him  here  ?" 
253 


The  Colossus 

The  woman  in  the  business  was  the  grit  in  the 
piece  of  machinery.  He  could  scarcely  away  with 
it.  His  native  dislike  of  their  interference  had 
been  illogically  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  a 
woman  had  played  an  important  part  in  the  one 
great  political  tragedy  of  his  life.  Since  then  he 
had  distrusted  them  more  and  more. 

"Then  you  have  made  up  your  mind  to  have 
him  here?" 

"I  suppose  so,"  said  Loder  with  reluctance; 
and  Bontine  could  hardly  recognise  him. 

Was  it  possible  that  a  woman  made  all  this 
difference  ? 

But  if  a  woman  merely  as  feminine  made  a 
difference,  what  was  the  alteration  likely  to  be 
when  the  predatory  She,  whose  fell  intent  was 
honorable  marriage,  came  into  the  matter  ? 

"I  suppose  so,"  repeated  Loder. 

For,  if  Cazoule  did  not  crawl  down,  this  she- 
falcon  must  be  loosed  on  him.  Or  what  evidence 
she  held  must  be  at  hand. 

"Can't  you  get  her  to  tell  you  all  about  it  now  ?" 
asked  Loder  in  a  hurry.  "Say  we  want  the  evi- 
dence for  this  afternoon." 

Bontine  glanced  at  him  and  chewed  a  pencil. 

"I'll  try,"  he  said,  but  he  was  without  enthusi- 
asm. 

He  knew  Gertrude  fairly  well.  She  was  flighty, 
254 


The  Colossus 

but  obstinate  at  any  time.  Of  late  her  obstinacy 
had  grown  like  a  gourd. 

"I'll  try." 

And  Loder  felt  relieved.  If  Bontine  tried,  he 
would  succeed.  If  not — but  it  was  no  use  to 
think  about  it. 

So  George  walked  out  into  the  garden,  and 
found  Tiny  alone. 

"Where's  Gertrude?" 

"She's  just  gone,"  said  his  wife. 

"What  kind  of  mood  is  she  in?" 

Tiny  shook  her  head. 

"She's  very  difficult,  I  think,  George." 

"I  want  her  to  tell  me  the  whole  thing  now," 
said  George ;  "we  need  it  this  afternoon." 

Tiny  lifted  her  eyes. 

"Who  will  ask  her?" 

"I  will,"  said  George. 

"It  won't  be  any  good.  She  wants  Mr.  Loder 
to  ask  her." 

Bontine  whistled. 

"Does  she  really  think  he  will  ?" 

"I  don't  know  whether  she  thinks  he  will  or 
not,  but  I  think  he  ought  to." 

Bontine  shook  his  head  irritably. 

"What  is  the  use  of  talking  that  way?  Loder 
is  Loder,  and  you  know  he  won't.  Where  is 
she?" 

255 


The  Colossus 

And  Tiny  sent  for  her.  Ten  minutes  later  Ger- 
trude appeared,  and  on  seeing  Bontine  put  on 
armor.  He  was  as  suave  as  May  sunlight,  and 
appeared  confidently  cheerful. 

"Well,  my  dear,  we're  getting  on  swimmingly. 
The  Obstacle  is  coming  this  afternoon,  and  he'll 
be  full  of  confidence,  no  doubt.  But  with  your 
help  we'll  drop  him  in  the  Nile." 

Gertrude  laughed  without  mirth. 

"I'm  glad  to  hear  it." 

"So  now,  as  we  expect  him  after  lunch,  will 
you  let  me  hear  all  the  particulars  ?" 

She  knew  his  air  of  confident  anticipation  was 
mere  acting.  An  infinitely  slight  shade  of  anxiety 
clouded  his  May-morning  manner, 

"Did  Mr.  Loder  send  you,  George  ?" 

It  was  a  difficult  question  to  answer,  and  he 
knew  it.  To  say  "Yes"  invited  one  retort,  to  say 
"No''  called  for  another. 

"My  dear,  he's  frightfully  busy,  and  I'm  under- 
taking just  now  to  relieve  him  of  all  I  can." 

"Of  course,"  said  Gertrude,  seating  herself  by 
Tiny,  who  for  once  was  not  wholly  on  her  hus- 
band's side.  If  blood  is  thicker  than  water,  at 
times  femininity  is  stronger  than  marriage.  "But 
did  he  send  you?" 

This  was  not  the  game  in  which  Bontine  really 
shone.  To  reconcile  opposing  interests,  to  pour 
256 


The  Colossus 

oil  on  breaking  waves,  to  be  a  new  Janus  of 
Peace,  who  persuaded  bath  parties  that  he  looked 
on  each  with  undivided  admiration,  were  the 
duties  to  which  this  subtle  and  more  successful 
H^fax  of  South  Africa  was  elected  by  his  very- 
birth.  But  here  he  was  seduced  by  accident  into 
attempting  the  impossible.  The  man  who  always 
succeeds  is  an  artist  in  selection.  If  Bontine 
cleared  a  political  ditch  in  public,  it  is  probable 
that  he  had  tried  it  in  private. 

"Did  he  send  me?  Now,  my  dear  girl,  how 
could  we  imagine  anything  but  that  when  the 
time  came  you  would  be  ready  to  help  ?  So  I  just 
came  along." 

"Yes,"  said  Gertrude,  "but  for  once,  though  I 
am  a  woman,  you  will  perhaps  allow  me  to  stick 
to  the  point.  Did  he  send  you,  or  ask  you  to 
come  ?" 

"I  suggested  it,  and  he  assented." 

Gertrude  nodded  and  lay  back  in  her  chair  as 
if  the  matter  was  settled. 

"Well !"  said  Bontine. 

"I'll  tell  nobody  but  Mr.  Loder,  George." 

George  wanted  to  beat  her,  but  restrained  the 
slightest  gesture  of  annoyance. 

"Then  come  along  and  tell  him." 

"When  he  asks  me,  George,"  said  Gertrude, 
and  then  she  snapped  at  him  with  sudden  irrita- 
17  257 


The  Colossus 

tion.    "I  tell  you,  I  won't  open  my  mouth  till  he 
does  it,  so  there !" 

Bontine  reddened  perceptibly,  and  Tmy  knew 

he  was  angry. 

"Isn't  this  mere  obstinacy?"  he  asked, t>nd 
Gertrude  shrugged  her  shoulders. 

"Did  you  never  see  mere  obstinacy  before?  It 
suits  me  to  be  obstinate.  I  feel  like  being  obsti- 
nate, and  I  am  obstinate,  if  you  like." 

Bontine  walked  to  and  fro  for  a  couple  of 
minutes.  He  knew  that  in  a  matter  of  this  de- 
scription Loder  was  himself  capable  of  obstmacy. 
But  he  had  not  quite  fathomed  the  depth  of  his 
real  and  solid  reluctance  to  ask  help  of  a  woman. 
Here  this  fool  of  a  girl  was  set  on  something 
that  Loder  would  scarcely  do.  And  yet  one  of 
them  must  give  way.  That  Gertrude  would  yie  d 
he  did  not  now  believe.  That  Loder  would  yield 
without  being  in  a  corner  he  did  not  imagine. 
Then  what  was  to  be  done?  Obviously  Loder 
must  be  put  in  the  corner. 

"We'll  have  Cazoule  here  and  Loder  will 
threaten  him  with  his  trump  card,  and  will 
send  for  Gertrude.  She  won't  come,  and  hav- 
ing made  the  threat,   Loder  will   have   to   ask 

^The    plan    was    simple    and    appeared    sound. 
Nevertheless  he  had  now  to  go  back  to  Loder. 

258 


The  Colossus 

Was  it  necessary  to  confess  failure?  If  he  did, 
Loder  might,  with  his  curious  notions,  refuse  to 
see  Cazoule  at  once.  He  must  be  persuaded  that 
it  was  all  right.  Certainly  Loder  had  not  definitely 
refused  to  apply  to  Gertrude. 

"Then,  though  you  won't  tell  me,  Gertrude," 
said  Bontine  cheerfully,  "you  promise  to  do 
everything  that  is  necessary  this  afternoon  when 
Loder  asks  you?" 

"Of  course,"  said  Gertrude. 

So  Bontine  went  back  to  Loder  with  an  air 
of  satisfaction  that  covered  much  anxiety. 

"She  won't  tell  me  now,  Loder,  but  it  will  be 
all  right  at  the  moment — I'm  sure  of  that." 

Loder  looked  up  doubtfully  from  his  desk. 

"You  ought  to  know  her.  Is  there  any  chance 
of  this  story  of  hers  not  being  true?" 

Bontine  was  positive  enough  that  it  was  true. 

"Your  knowledge  of  humanity  ought  to  as- 
sure you  of  that,"  he  said. 

"I'd  rather  trust  your  knowledge  of  this  par- 
ticular piece  of  humanity,"  mumbled  Loder. 

He  did  not  like  to  argue  from  the  general  to 
this  particular. 

"You  know  what  she  wants  ?"  asked  Bontine. 

"Humph,"  said  the  Beloved  uneasily. 

"Do  you  think  a  clever  woman — and  she  is 
clever — would  be  likely,  under  the  circumstances, 
259 


The  Colossus 

to  do  what  would  make  you  furiously  and  justi- 
fiably angry  ?"  asked  Bontine  again. 

"No — o,  perhaps  not,"  said  Loder. 

But  he  did  not  like  the  idea  of  her  establish- 
ing a  claim  of  this  kind  on  him.  And  when  he 
granted  that  she  was  hkely  to  be  useful,  because 
she  was  fond  of  him,  it  seemed  like  stamping  this 
imdesirable  agreement.  He  put  the  thing  aside 
and  buried  himself  in  the  consideration  of  the 
coming  conversation  with  the  Frenchman. 

And  all  the  time  Emory  Hinton  sat  there  curs- 
ing Gertrude  under  his  breath.  If  he  could  only 
speak  openly!  A  thousand  times  he  argued  the 
question  as  to  whether  his  duty  was  not  to  break 
his  promise.  But  his  strength  did  not  lie  in  play- 
ing the  casuist  with  himself.  He  only  used  his 
knowledge  to  strengthen  by  discreet  suggestions 
the  belief  that  Gertrude's  story  had  real  founda- 
tions. 

"I'll  go  into  Cairo  now,"  said  Bontine,  "and 
I'll  lunch  at  the  Club  and  bring  Cazoule  back 
with  me  if  I  can.  If  he  won't  come,  I'll  send  in 
word." 

He  was  a  little  nervous  for  a  man  of  his  tem- 
perament, or  he  would  not  have  talked  like  this. 
For  what  did  it  matter  to  Loder,  who  was  clear- 
ing for  action  like  a  ponderous  battle-ship,  where 
he  lunched?  He  signalled  as  much  with  his 
260 


The  Colossus 

shoulders,  and  Bontine  went  off  to  find  the 
Frenchman.  He  was  really  not  a  little  uneasy 
as  to  how  Loder  would  take  it,  when  he  found 
that  Gertrude  sat  as  tight  as  the  Pyramids.  Yet, 
after  all,  seeing  how  much  depended  on  it,  no  one 
but  a  fool  would  refuse  to  sacrifice  feelings  which 
to  Bontine  were  certainly  absurd. 


CHAPTER   XXI 

BoNTiNE  did  not  find  it  very  easy  to  induce 
Cazoule  to  come  out  to  the  Hotel.  The  financier 
felt  at  first  that  it  was  safer  to  stay  in  his  en- 
trenchments, and  he  saw  that  Eustace  Loder 
might  interpret  his  leaying  them  as  a  sign  of  the 
anxiety  which  he  undoubtedly  felt.  For  there 
had  been  odd  rumors  in  official  circles  about  Zoh- 
rab,  and  Zohrab  was  now  the  very  symbol  of  the 
conflict  as  well  as  an  important  personage.  So  in 
Paris  Dreyfus  was  Dreyfus,  and,  infinitely  more, 
a  discreet  method  of  fighting  bitterly  without  say- 
ing what  the  struggle  was  really  about.  But  in 
dealing  with  Cazoule,  Bontine  was  far  more  in 
his  element  than  in  getting  to  hand-grips  with  a 
woman  like  Gertrude  Broughton. 

"If  I  can  only  make  him  think  that  he  is  doing 
Loder  a  favor  by  coming,  and  that  Loder  wants 
a  golden  bridge  of  retreat  built,  he'll  come,"  said 
the  wily  Sir  George.  "And  if  he  imagines  that 
by  coming  he  is  softening  our  sense  of  defeat,  the 
shock  of  finding  E.  L.  a  bit  harder  than  usual 
will  knock  his  confidence." 
262 


The  Colossus 

So  Bontine,  who  was  something  of  an  actor, 
Hke  all  politicians  of  eminence,  put  on  a  worried 
and  anxious  expression  to  greet  the  Frenchman 
with,  and  half  covered  it  up  with  the  glaze  of  a 
confident  smile. 

Cazoule  was  much  gratified  to  meet  "Sir  Bon- 
tine," and  then  corrected  "Sir  Bontine"  into  "Sir 
George."  He  was  inclined  to  pique  himself  on 
his  English. 

"I  am  glad  to  see  you  once  more.  Sir  B — Sir 
George,"  said  Cazoule;  "and  how  is  our  charm- 
ing friend,  Monsieur  Loder?  Does  he  find  him- 
self well  in  Cairo  this  hot  time?" 

"He  is  not  so  very  well,"  said  "Sir  Bontine" 
regretfully,  "and  that  he  is  not  so  well  is  really 
the  reason  I  have  called." 

"Ah !"  cried  Cazoule,  "it  is  a  sad  reason  for  so 
pleasant  a  surprise.  I  think  our  friend  Loder 
unexpressibly  charming.  He  has  altogether  an 
air  of  honesty,  and  so  much  of  what  we  call  'bon- 
homie.' " 

Bontine  had  not  noticed  this  particular  quality 
in  Loder,  but  he  agreed  with  the  Frenchman. 

"He  regrets  that  he  could  not  come  into 
Cairo  to-day,  but  he  has  made  me  his  ambassador, 
and  would  take  it  as  a  favor  if  your  business 
permitted  you  to  come  and  see  him  this  after- 
noon." 

263 


The  Colossus 

He  allowed  an  expression  to  cross  his  face 
which  was  almost  sulky. 

"Ah!"  said  Cazoule,  "I  am  afraid  I  cannot. 
Let  me  think." 

He  turned  over  some  papers  and  thought. 

"Mr.  Loder  cannot  stay  in  Cairo  much  longer," 
said  Bontine,  as  if  he  were  imparting  a  secret. 

"No?"  said  Cazoule. 

"And  for  my  part  I  am  in  favor  of  a  compro- 
mise." 

"He  looks  as  if  he  were  prepared  to  swallow 
the  Inevitable  and — Us,"  thought  Cazoule. 

He  knew  how  much  Bontine  was  mixed  up  in 
Loder's  business. 

"I  might  be  able  to  come,  but  I  cannot  say  for 
an  hour,"  said  Cazoule  cautiously. 

"If  you  want  to  do  business,  come !"  cried  Bon- 
tine with  sudden  apparent  spontaneity. 

Cazoule  struck  in,  and  forgot  his  hard-learnt 
English  titles. 

"Come,  Sir  Bontine,  be  frank  with  me." 

"I  will  be  frank." 

He  slapped  his  hand  on  the  desk. 

"Is  there  now  a  question  of  Sir  Loder's  dis- 
carding the  Oppenheimer?" 

Bontine  shook  his  head. 

"I  cannot  go  so  far  as  that ;  I  am  not  at  liberty 
to  speak.  But  speaking  as  frankly  as  I  can,  I 
264 


The  Colossus 

tell  you  I  am  very  anxious  to  get  away,  and  so  is 
Mr.  Loder.  We  are  both  wanted  at  the  Cape. 
Come  this  afternoon." 

Cazoule  looked  at  him  steadily. 

"Do  me  the  favor,"  said  Bontine.  "If  you 
don't  I  must  go  to-morrow.  And  I  think  you 
know  my  influence  with  Mr.  Loder  is  a  moderat- 
ing one." 

His  tone  was  more  than  the  words. 

"They  will  swallow  Us,"  said  Cazoule,  and  the 
very  thought  Bontine  had  been  striving  to  sug- 
gest rose  in  his  mind.  "It  will  be  less  hard  for 
him  to  give  way  if  I  go  to  him !" 

He  was  willing  to  be  merciful  to  the  falling. 

"Very  well,  Sir — George,  I  will  come,"  he  said. 
"I  will  come  at  three  o'clock." 

And  Bontine  sighed  a  diplomatic  sigh.  It 
said :  "Well,  we've  fought  a  good  fight,  but  are 
beaten." 

"So  there  is  nothing  in  the  rumors  about  Zoh- 
rab,  after  all,"  said  Cazoule  as  he  drove  out  to 
the  Hotel  in  the  afternoon.     "Nothing  after  all !" 

He  found  Bontine  and  the  ladies  under  the 
veranda. 

"You  know  my  wife  and  Miss  Broughton," 
said  the  Cape  politician. 

"I    have    the    pleasure,"    cried    Cazoule.     He 
bowed  and  shook  hands. 
265 


The  Colossus 

"My  dear,"  cried  Bontine,  "entertain  Monsieur 
de  Cazoule  while  I  go  and  tell  Mr.  Loder  that  he 
has  come." 

Before  the  Frenchman's  arrival  he  had  given 
them  instructions. 

"Be  very  careful  to  keep  him  in  a  good  tem- 
per," said  Bontine,  "Say  you  are  packing  up  to 
go.  Tell  him  you  hate  Cairo,  if  you  like.  It 
will  incline  him  to  think  he  is  going  to  have 
things  his  own  way,  and  when  he  finds  he  has  not 
got  us  down  it  will  shake  his  nerve." 

And  Tiny  did  her  little  best,  and  did  it  cleverly, 
though  she  did  drop  the  "de"  out  of  his  name. 

"We're  going,  Monsieur  Cazoule,"  she  cried, 
"and  I  am  glad  of  it.  It's  so  worrying  here ; 
and  at  the  other  end,  our  end  of  Africa,  we 
women  can  keep  out  of  the  worry  and  live  in  our 
gardens." 

"How  delightful !"  said  Cazoule ;  "and  is  your 
end  of  Africa  beautiful  ?" 

"You  should  see  Stellenbosch !"  cried  Tiny. 

"Ah,  when  the  railway  is  done,  I  hope  to  come 
and  pay  you  my  compliments." 

"I  don't  believe  it  ever  will  be  done,"  said  Tiny, 
with  studied  indiscreetness.     "I  hate  railways!" 

"Oh,   Tiny,"  said  Gertrude,   "how  can  you! 
And  of  course  the  railway  will  be  built;  Mon- 
sieur de  Cazoule  is  going  to  do  it  with  us." 
266 


The  Colossus 

The  proper  "do"  and  the  naive  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  victory  cheered  Cazoule  mightily. 

"It's  as  I  thought,"  he  said ;  "I'm  glad  I  came." 

And  in  the  meantime  Bontine,  who  had  not 
seen  Loder  since  the  morning,  was  filling  the 
Chief  up  with  what  he  had  done. 

"He's  here.  I  didn't  think  he'd  come,  but  I 
.made  him  think  you  were  going  away.  He's  full 
of  the  notion." 

"Why  did  you  do  that?"  asked  Loder. 

"Because  he  wouldn't  have  come  if  I  hadn't," 
replied  Bontine;  "and  when  he  finds  you  harder 
than  ever  it  will  shake  him  a  lot." 

Loder  grunted  two  or  three  times  as  if  he  were 
going  to  speak,  but  finally  nodded. 

"Fetch  him  in." 

While  Loder  was  waiting,  Hinton  was  like  a 
cat  upon  hot  bricks.  He  could  not  restrain  him- 
self at  last. 

"Mr.  Loder !" 

"Yes,"  said  the  contemplative  Chief. 

"I  think  I  suggested  the  other  day,  when  I  un- 
derstood your  reluctance  to  bring  Miss  Brough- 
ton  into  this  matter,  that  a  little  waiting  might 
enable  you  to  do  without  her." 

"How?"  asked  Loder. 

Hinton  stood  first  on  one  foot  and  then  on 
another. 

267 


The  Colossus 

"How  can  a  thing  like  that  be  kept  in  long? 
Give  me  a  week,  sir,  and  I'll  undertake  to  find 
out  who  acted  with  her." 

Loder  was  screwed  up  for  this  day,  and  a  week 
was  a  century. 

"A  week !  Why  don't  you  suggest  a  year  ? 
And  if  you  find  it  out,  so  will  the  others,  and 
whatever  there  is  in  it  would  be  neutralised.  No, 
I'll  not  wait.     Besides,  here  comes  Cazoule." 

Loder  was  so  far  put  out  of  temper  by  the 
whole  course  of  the  proceedings  that  his  polite- 
ness was  not  so  very  polite  as  to  suggest  to  the 
French  Financier  that  he  was  at  his  ease.  The  very 
roughness  and  want  of  refined  courtesy  in  Loder 
at  that  moment  suggested  the  man  had  got  the 
worst  of  the  long  conflict.  And  yet  Loder  was 
not  uncourteous ;  he  only  appeared  so  in  contrast 
with  the  silky  manner  of  Cazoule,  who,  like  all 
his  countrymen,  was  at  his  best  in  the  moment 
of  victory.  Loder  had  his  big  schoolboy  man- 
ner on  him ;  he  was  the  sixth-form  boy  again, 
dining  with  the  head-master  when  he  wanted  to 
play  football.  The  delicate  part  of  diplomatic 
conflict  never  appealed  to  him.  He  wanted  to  be 
obviously  on  the  peak.  To  be  seen  climbing  dis- 
turbed him.  He  liked  to  thrust  finished  results 
under  the  nose  of  his  adversaries. 

And  yet  he  was  good  enough  at  the  fight 
268 


The  Colossus 

when  he  warmed  to  it.  If  he  preferred  using 
an  axe,  and  not  a  knife,  he  could,  like  a  Nor- 
wegian carver,  finish  a  spoon  with  the  bigger 
tool. 

And  now  he  used  the  axe. 

"I'm  glad  you've  come,"  said  Loder  gruffly, 
and,  as  Cazoule  had  started  by  being  deceived, 
every  sign  of  disturbance  accentuated  his  convic- 
tions. 

"I  was  very  happy  to  be  free  this  afternoon," 
said  Cazoule  Hghtly. 

"So  was  I,"  interjected  the  Chief.  He  put  his 
hands  deep  in  his  pockets.  "Because,  Monsieur 
Cazoule,  this  is  possibly  our  last  interview  as 
friends." 

His  words  were  a  staggering  blow  for  the 
Frenchman. 

"Comment !  How  ?"  he  demanded  with  a  gasp. 
What  did  it  all  mean? 

"How?"  said  Loder,  getting  on  his  feet  and 
standing  opposite  the  Frenchman.  "How?  I'll 
tell  you  how.  We've  got  you  defeated  right  now 
— I  say  we  have  you  defeated !  Shall  we  make  it 
a  rout?" 

His  vast  figure,  his  cold  yet  excited  personal- 
ity, his  savage  certainty,  for  a  moment  appalled 
his  opponent.    But  he  recovered  quickly. 

"I  have  heard  all  this  before,"  he  remarked 
269 


The  Colossus 

coolly ;  "but  words  are  only  words,  and  we  have 
had  enough  of  them," 

Then  Loder  laughed.  It  was  not  his  humor- 
ous rumble,  but  his  high-pitched  note  that 
sounded  feminine. 

"Who  is  so  tired  of  words  as  our  side  ?"  he  de- 
manded. "But  we  will  come  to  deeds.  Have 
you  seen  Zohrab  lately?" 

"Did  I  not  tell  you  that  we  were  not  on  the  best 
of  terms?" 

"To  be  sure,"  said  Loder ;  "but  I  might  be  ex- 
cused for  not  remembering  that,  when  a  common 
danger  must  have  brought  you  together." 

"I  am  not  aware  of  a  common  danger." 

"Then  you  don't  mind  his  being  disgraced?" 

'T  have  no  reason  to  wish  it." 

Loder  smiled. 

"That  is  the  common  opinion.  You  know  and 
I  know  that  if  he  falls  your  chief  instrument  will 
be  wrenched  out  of  your  hands.  You  will  be  de- 
feated, the  French  influence  will  be  at  a  discount, 
we  shall  come  in,  get  our  guarantee  and  do  with- 
out you." 

Every  feature  of  Cazoule  told  that  he  knew 
this  was  truth. 

His  clenched  hands  confirmed  their  story. 

"I  grant  you  he  is  Francophile,  but  personally 
we  do  not  agree.  Yet  you  cannot  turn  him  out." 
270 


The  Colossus 

"I  think  we  can,"  said  Loder  confidently.  "You 
have  surely  heard  some  rumors  about  him?" 

Cazoule  had  heard  many,  and  knew  well  how 
they  arose.  He  saw  now  what  Zohrab  had  told 
him  was  not  merely  a  trick  of  Achmet's ;  Loder 
himself  must  have  been  in  it.  But  Zohrab  had 
not  told  him  all,  nor  did  Zohrab  himself  know 
whom  Achmet  had  brought  as  a  witness. 

"Some  rumors  have  been  spread,  we  suppose 
by  Achmet  Pasha,"  said  Cazoule.  "But  he  has 
no  real  credit  with  the  Khedive." 

"You  know  better,"  cried  Loder.  "We  might 
help  him." 

"If  any  one  can,  doubtless  you  can,"  said  Ca- 
zoule angrily. 

"Ha!"  said  Loder,  "we  can.  We  have  not 
chosen  to  ruin  your  other  tool,  Powell " 

"He  is  not  my  tool,"  said  Cazoule. 

"He  is,"  repeated  Loder,  "but  when  Zohrab 
falls  he  will  be  useless." 

"But  Zohrab  shall  not  fall." 

Loder  laughed  then  with  his  more  humorous 
laugh. 

"You  are  anxious  to  keep  this  enemy  of  yours 
in  power  and  place." 

"I  never  said  he  was  my  enemy.  Personally, 
we  do  not  agree." 

"Except  when  he  visits  you  at  your  house," 
271 


The  Colossus 

said  Loder.  "We  are  quite  accustomed  to  that 
kind  of  enmity  at  the  Cape.  But  don't  let  us 
bandy  words.  For  the  sake  of  argument,  are  you 
prepared  to  see  Zohrab  go  ?" 

"No,  but  not  because  you  can  cause  his  fall." 

"Then  why  not?" 

"Because  he  is  on  our  side." 

"But  granting  we  can  put  him  out,  what  is  your 
position  ?" 

"I  do  not  grant  it." 

It  was  a  very  awkward  question. 

"I  ask  you  to  grant  it  as  a  matter  of  discus- 
sion. No !  Then  I  will  take  it  for  granted.  You 
know  that  when  Zohrab  goes  the  Khedive  will  be 
thrown  loose,  his  confidence  will  be  destroyed ;  it 
will  be  taken  by  Europe  as  a  sign  that  French  in- 
fluence, even  at  Cairo,  has  at  last  been  utterly 
broken.  Your  own  position  and  credit  at  Paris 
stand  and  fall  with  Zohrab  here.  I  am  well  in- 
formed." 

"So  it  appears,"  said  Cazoule. 

"And  it  means  more.  It  means  that  our  people 
will  be  ready  to  consider  an  English  guarantee 
may  be  granted.  For  a  success  here  will  encour- 
age a  strong  party  in  England  to  demand  that  the 
Duke  of  Enfield  shall  act.  You  appear  to  me  to 
be  working  for  an  English  Protectorate." 

"No,"  said  Cazoule.  "Those  who  back  Op- 
272 


The  Colossus 

penheimer  won't  back  you  so  far  as  that.  The 
Germans  will  never  embroil  themselves  with  the 
Sultan." 

"No  ?"  cried  Loder.  "What  a  pity  I  can't  show 
you  the  Anglo-German  agreement  in  black  and 
white.  I  really  don't  believe  your  people  know 
what  they  want.  Has  your  cunning  policy  been 
one  of  pin-pricks  to  force  us  to  a  Protectorate 
with  a  view  of  embroiling  us  with  Turkey  and 
Germany  ?" 

"We  are  not  so  clever,"  sneered  Cazoule. 

"Ah !  but  you  are  a  financier,"  said  Loder. 
"You  know  what  money  can  do.  Perhaps  you 
will  see  the  Sultan  and  the  German  Emperor  on 
the  Board  of  the  Transcontinental  Railway  yet. 
But  this  is  fooling.  I  can  throw  out  Zohrab;  I 
can — by  God  I  can !  Now  you've  a  ticklish  situa- 
tion to  face." 

"How  ?"  asked  Cazoule  uneasily. 

"How,  indeed !"  said  Loder,  sitting  down  oppo- 
site the  other  man.  "It  is  either  in  or  out  with 
you;  you  must  come  in  or  must  stay  out.  You 
can't  have  the  best  you  want,  but  no  more  can  I. 
To  be  perfectly  frank,  I'd  rather  not  have  you  in 
at  all " 

"Naturally;  but  we  are  here." 

"You  won't  play  the  Alexandria  game  again?'* 

"No,"  said  Cazoule  sharply ;  "but  you  are  tak- 
i8  273 


The  Colossus 

ing  for  granted  what  I  refused  to  grant.  Zohrab 
has  not  fallen,  and  you  cannot  get  your  Duke  of 
Enfield  to  push  us  out " 

Loder  knew  that  better  than  the  Frenchman, 
but,  though  he  could  not  have  formulated  a  cut- 
and-dried  explanation  right  off,  he  was  well 
aware  that  the  vice  of  the  Foreign  Office  execu- 
tive was  more  or  less  due  to  the  over-energy  dis- 
played by  the  pushing,  unofficial  English  on  the 
rim  of  the  Empire.  The  Foreign  Office  was  the 
drag,  not,  as  in  France,  a  motive  power. 

"You  don't  know,  Monsieur,"  broke  in  Loder, 
"that  there  are  those  here  without  any  official 
position  who  have  more  power  than  a  regiment 
of  French  officials.  I  myself  am  nobody  here. 
I  am  a  visitor,  a  tourist  if  you  like.  But  the  Eng- 
lish Foreign  Office  doesn't  do  things ;  it  watches 
us  do  them.  You  should  know  that ;  you  should 
be  able  to  see  it." 

"We  believe  we  see  how  far  the  Duke  will  let 
you  go,"  said  Cazoule ;  "and  if  you  have  no  more 
to  say,  it  will  be  a  waste  of  time  for  me  to  re- 
main." 

Loder  reluctantly  returned  to  the  real  point. 

"Then  we  will  pull  your  Zohrab  out  of  his 
niche." 

"It  is  a  mere  threat." 

"No,  it  is  the  truth.     Do  you  want  proof  ?" 
274 


i 


The  Colossus 

He  rose  from  his  chair,  and  went  toward  the 
bell. 

"Stop,"  said  Cazoule,  "and  answer  a  question." 

"If  I  can." 

"Is  this  an  empty  threat,  or  can  you  show  me 
proofs  of  Zohrab's  treachery  ?" 

"I  can  show  them." 

Cazoule  jumped  up  in  excitement. 

"But  if  he  is  a  traitor  to  us,  why  have  you  not 
used  him?" 

Loder  laughed  a  high-pitched  chuckle. 

"Shall  we  show  you  every  card  in  the  game  ?" 

"No,  no!"  cried  Cazoule;  "but  if  there  appears 

to  be  anything  in  this I  believe  it  is  a  trick, 

after  all." 

"Because  you  have  trusted  him?  But,  trick 
or  none,  we  can  pull  him  down." 

He  struck  the  table  a  resounding  smack. 

"You  don't  want  him  out,  and  you  know  it. 
Come  down  now,  and  he  shall  stay.  That's  a 
practical  proposition." 

"Why  don't  you  complete  your  work,  and  get 
him  out?" 

"Ah,"  said  Loder,  "I  expected  that  question. 
I  want  you  to  withdraw  your  opposition  and  use 
your  influence  on  our  side  through  him.  I  want 
to  leave  Cairo — that's  the  truth.  Now  I  give  you 
your  choice." 

27S 


The  Colossus 

"If  I  agree,  is  there  anything  else  ?" 

"I  want  proofs  that  Powell  has  been  a  traitor 
to  us." 

"I  can't  help  you." 

"Oh,  yes,  you  can,"  cried  Loder,  "and  when 
I  prove  that  he  tried  to  sell  himself  and  you 
to  Oppenheimer,  you  will  give  me  the  proofs. 
Once  you  and  I  agree,  he  will  be  useless  to 
you." 

Cazoule  was  very  nearly  at  the  end  of  his 
tether,  and  the  suggestion  that  Powell  had  tried 
to  sell  him  to  Oppenheimer  and  the  German  gang 
finished  the  struggle.     He  snapped  his  fingers. 

"Prove  first  what  you  say  about  Zohrab  is  true, 
and  you  shall  have  your  Powell,  and  I  will  agree 
to  what  you  want." 

"Then  you  own  Powell  sold  us?"  said  Loder. 
"Ah !  you  own  it." 

"Prove  what  you  say,"  insisted  Cazoule. 

"Is  there  any  need  for  proof  in  your  mind?" 
asked  Loder  with  sudden  gloom  that  Cazoule 
did  not  understand.  "What  has  Zohrab  told 
you?" 

"Let  me  have  your  proof,"  said  the  French- 
man. 

And  Loder  clouded  over.  Had  he,  after  all, 
to  apply  to  a  woman  for  help?  Had  he  to  send 
for  her  proofs?  It  seemed  intolerable  to  him. 
276 


The  Colossus 

He  talked  again,  half  to  himself,  and  half  to 
Cazoule. 

"My  idea  is  this :  I  want  you  to  work  with  us. 
Let  us  have  peace :  there's  no  money  in  fighting. 
You  know  well  enough  that  Zohrab  is  in  my 
hands — you  must  know  it.  And  I'll  tell  you  the 
truth." 

Cazoule  was  lighting  a  cigarette,  but  he  let  the 
match  go  out. 

"What  is  this  truth  ?" 

He  knew  Loder  was  dangerous,  but  he  had 
heard  him  called  the  Biggest  Liar  in  Africa,  and 
he  recognised  that  he  was  a  fighting  diplomatist. 

Loder  slapped  his  hand  on  the  desk. 

"It's  the  real,  exact  truth,  and  you  will  see  its 
possibility.  I  don't  want  to  produce  my  evidence 
against  Zohrab  unless  you  force  me." 

At  first  Cazoule  did  see  the  possibility  of  this. 
The  move  seemed  too  childish,  if  it  was  mere 
blufiF.     And  yet 

"Do  you  expect  me  to  take  your  unsupported 
word,  Monsieur?" 

"No,"  said  Loder.  "Take  Zohrab's  when  you 
last  saw  him.  I  tell  you,  for  reasons  I  do  not 
care  to  state,  I  don't  want  to  bring  my  witnesses 
to  prove  what  I  am  sure  you  know." 

But  now  Cazoule  thought  he  saw  a  little  deeper 
into  the  intrigue.  Not  being  able  to  understand 
277 


The  Colossus 

Loder's  real  reluctance,  he  imagined  very  natu- 
rally that  the  Englishman  was  averse  to  showing 
through  whom  h^  had  worked. 

"And  why  should  I  not  know  that?"  Cazoule 
asked  himself. 

He  lighted  his  cigarette  now. 

"I  think  I  must  ask  for  the  evidence,"  he  said. 

And  Loder  knew  that  he  could  persevere  no 
further  on  that  line.  He  walked  into  the  next 
room  and  found  Bontine. 

"Tell  her  to  give  you  the  details.  I  want  them 
now,"  said  Loder. 

Then  he  went  back  to  Cazoule, 


CHAPTER  XXII 

"This  is  a  nice  business,"  said  Bontine  to  Hin- 
ton,     "What  is  the  betting  that  she  won't  come?" 

Emory  shook  his  head. 

"A  thousand  to  one." 

"I've  got  to  try,"  said  Bontine.  "But  if  she 
won't  we  shall  have  to  make  Loder  go  to  her." 

He  spoke  interrogatively,  for  he  recognised 
that  Emory  knew  the  Chief  in  some  ways  far  bet- 
ter than  he  did. 

"The  devil!"  said  Hinton;  and  that  was  his 
answer. 

"He'll  have  to !"  cried  Bontine  angrily. 

And  the  Secretary  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"Shall  I  go  to  her  for  you  ?" 

"No,"  said  Bontine,  and  he  left  the  room  with 
an  ugly  look  on  his  face  that  he  allowed  few  to 
see. 

"This  is  being  between  two  fools,"  said  the 
Grand  Perpetual  Master  of  the  Olive  Branch 
savagely. 

He,  too,  felt  now  what  a  pleasure  it  would  be 
to  resort  to  primitive  methods  of  persuasion.  And 
yet,  when  he  saw  Gertrude,  no  one  would  have 
279 


The  Colossus 

known  that  he  was  regretting  the  days  of  the 
rack  and  thumb-screw. 

"Well,  Gertrude,"  he  said  pleasantly,  "how  are 
things  going?  I  want  you  to  come  along  with 
me,  and  tell  us  all  about  it.  Your  amiable 
Cazoule  is  tottering,  and  we  want  you  to  shove 
him  over." 

Gertrude  made  no  sign. 

"Come,"  said  Bontine. 

"Did  I  not  tell  you  ?"  said  Gertrude,  lifting  her 
eyebrows. 

"What?" 

"You  know  what." 

"Stuff!"  cried  George;  "you  don't  mean  to 
say  you  really  intend  taking  up  such  a  childish 
attitude  ?" 

She  made  an  obstinate  mouth,  and  picked  a 
novel  from  the  floor  with  trembling  hands. 

"Go  to  the  Chief  and  tell  him  what  I  say.  He's 
the  child,  it  seems  to  me.  It's  no  good  trying 
to  persuade  me,  George.  Go  and  persuade 
him." 

She  did  not  speak  again,  and  would  not  answer. 
So  Bontine  turned  away  and  ran  against  his  wife. 
He  drew  her  into  the  corner. 

"This  fool  won't  say  anything.  Can  you  per- 
suade her  ?" 

"My  dear  George,"  said  Tiny  hopelessly,  "if 
280 


The  Colossus 

you  can't  persuade  her,  how  can  I?    Why  don't 
you  get  Mr.  Loder  to  come  ?" 

Bontine  almost  gnashed  his  teeth. 

"Good  Lord !  don't  you  know  him  ?  Why  was 
a  man  made  like  him  ? — that's  the  question.  Try 
your  hand  on  her." 

Tiny  looked  as  if  she  was  ordered  to  climb 
the  side  of  a  house. 

"Very  well,"  she  said:  "I'll  try  if  you  want 
me  to;  but  go  away.  I'll  call  you  when  I've 
failed." 

For  once  she  was  not  the  tender-hearted  little 
fool  that  she  pretended  to  be.  She  marched  over 
to  Gertrude,  and  snatched  the  book  out  of  her 
hand. 

"You  horrid,  selfish  girl,  you !"  she  cried,  with 
real  fury.  "For  two  pins  I  could  scratch  you ! 
Go  and  get  us  all  out  of  this  mess,  and  let  us  go 
away,  and  don't  sit  there  like  a  schoolgirl  in  the 
sulks.  Go  and  show  you  are  not  a  fool.  If  you 
make  Mr.  Loder  come  to  you,  all  your  pains  will 
be  for  nothing.  Do  you  think  he'll  forgive  you 
for  that?" 

Gertrude  was  aghast  for  a  moment,  and  almost 
quailed. 

"Oh,  w^hat  do  you  mean,  Tiny?  How  dare 
you?"  she  said.    "Give  me  back  that  book." 

"I  won't,"  said  Tiny. 

281 


The  Colossus 

And  Gertrude  took  it. 

"I  don't  care  what  Mr.  Loder  does  or  thinks. 
All  I  know  is  that  he  shall  behave  like  a  real 
man,  and  not  like  an  idol  in  a  niche.  I  hate 
him — he's  a  beast!  But  he  shall  come,  so 
there !" 

"Then  you're  unkind  and  a  fool !"  said  Tiny,  in 
sudden  collapse;  "but — I  should  do  the  same,  I 
believe.    He  is  horrid  sometimes,  isn't  he  ?" 

But  Gertrude  would  not  speak. 

"It's  no  good,  George,"  said  Tiny;  "you  will 
have  to  make  him  come." 

"Damn!"  said  George,  as  he  marched  down 
the  corridor.     "Well,  he  must  come." 

He  told  Hinton  what  had  happened,  and  the 
Secretary  jumped  to  his  feet. 

"I'll  try." 

"It  won't  be  any  good." 

"I  can  try,  anyhow,"  said  Hinton  grimly ;  and 
away  he  marched  to  a  combat  which  was  not 
destined  to  come  off.  For  the  sulky  Amazon  saw 
him  coming.  She  got  up  and  beat  a  very  wise  re- 
treat. 

"Tell  that  Emory  Hinton  I  won't  see  him," 
she  remarked  to  Tiny  as  she  vanished  from  the 
veranda.  "I  know  a  thing  worth  two  of  that," 
she  cried  to  herself.  "For  if  I  talk  with  him  he 
will  get  furious,  and  I  shall  be  furious,  and  per- 

282 


The  Colossus 

haps  he  will  end  in  breaking  his  word.  But  if 
I  don't  see  him  he  can't.  And  it  will  annoy  him 
worse  than  anything." 

In  that  she  was  right;  for  when  Emory  saw 
her  go  without  staying  to  look  round,  he  wanted, 
as  Tiny  had  wanted,  to  slap  her. 

"So  she  won't  see  me,  Lady  Bontine?"  he 
cried. 

"I'm  afraid  not,  Mr.  Hinton,"  said  Tiny  sadly. 

"I  suppose  you've  tried  your  best?" 

She  shook  her  head. 

"But  what's  the  use?  Oh,  my  dear  Mr.  Hin- 
ton, what  shall  we  do?    What  does  Mr.  Loder 


say 


"He  doesn't  know  yet," 

"Oh,  dear!"  said  Tiny,  collapsing.  She  had 
a  notion  that  the  Chief  would  act  like  Samson, 
and,  by  pulling  a  few  pillars  down,  whelm  the 
world  of  that  hotel  in  awful  ruin.  "And  when  he 
does  know,  what  will  he  do?" 

"Nobody  knows,"  growled  Hinton.  He  was 
thinking  of  what  would  happen  when  the  Chief 
knew  the  part  he  had  played  in  this  tragi-comedy. 
Once  Loder  had  used  the  rough  side  of  his  tongue 
upon  his  Secretary,  and  Hinton  winced  at  the 
very  memory  of  it.  For  no  one  in  South  Africa 
could  be  more  biting.  And  when  Loder  did  put 
pen  to  paper  to  give  any  one  a  vague  idea  of  what 
283 


The  Colossus 

he  thought  of  him,  that  rare  letter  was  like  a 
blister,  and. took  the  skin  off. 

"Has  any  one  got  any  influence  with  her?" 
wailed  Tiny. 

"You  ought  to  know  better  than  I,"  said  the 
Secretary,  turning  to  go. 

"Stay  a  moment,"  cried  Tiny.  "She  has  been 
very  friendly  with  Mr.  Romney  lately " 

"So  she  has,"  said  Hinton ;  "but  wouldn't  he 
be  like  a  bull  in  a  china  shop?" 

Tiny's  lips  curled. 

"She's  no  china  shop,  Mr.  Hinton ;  she's — 
oh,  she's  a  hardware  store,  that's  what  she  is.  I 
really  think,  if  I  were  you,  I  would  ask  Mr. 
Romney  to  speak  to  her  before  you  give  it  up." 

"But  why  Romney?"  asked  Hinton. 

Tiny  shrugged  her  shoulders. 

"She's  been  very  friendly  with  him  lately,  and 
she  thinks  him  a  kind  of  gigantic  baby,  so  if  he 
went  to  her  seriously " 

"I  see,"  said  Emory. 

"And  besides,  Mr.  Hinton,  she  knows  he's  al- 
most the  only  man  in  South  Africa  who  just 
doesn't  care  a  bit  about  Mr.  Loder.  He's  not  like 
most  of  us — fairly  frightened  to  death  of  him." 

Hinton  knew  that.  Friends  and  enemies  alike 
held  the  Colossus  in  peculiar  awe.  Romney  alone 
regarded  him  in  a  curious  dry  light  of  reason. 
284 


The  Colossus 

To  him  the  Chief  was  just  a  big  man  with  power 
and  that  was  all.  That  was  no  reason  for  dread- 
ing a  mere  man.  His  religious  attitude  (and  he 
was  at  the  bottom  keenly  and  essentially  re- 
ligious) helped  the  Contractor's  natural  inde- 
pendence of  the  Big  Fetich,  to  whom  so  many 
made  impious  offerings. 

"I'll  try  him,"  said  Emory;  and  he  went  off 
hunting  for  Romney  in  a  hurry. 

He  found  him  stretched  in  a  long  chair,  with 
a  long  drink  handy.  While  all  the  world  beside 
seemed  desperately  agitated,  he  alone  perspired 
peacefully  over  a  book  of  meditations. 

"We  want  you,"  said  Hinton. 

"Eh?"  asked  Romney.  "Eh— what?  You 
seem  in  a  hurry.  Sit  down  and  have  something 
to  drink." 

"No,"  said  Emory ;  and  he  told  Sam  in  as  few 
words  as  possible  what  they  wanted  him  for. 

"So  she  holds  the  key  now?" 

"That's  it,"  said  Hinton. 

"And  Loder  won't  ask  her?" 

He  spoke  with  infinite  contempt. 

"No,  but  why  should  he?"  said  Emory.  "We 
want  her  not  to  cause  trouble,  but  just  to  do  what 
she  should.    Come  and  try  her." 

"All  right,"  said  the  Contractor,  getting  out 
of  his  chair,  and  ramming  his  book  into  his 
285 


The  Colossus 

pocket  with  an  air  of  having  done  with  medita- 
tions for  a  very  long  time.  "But  do  you  say  she 
wants  him  to  ask  her?" 

"That's  it." 

"Then  he  shall  ask  her,  if  she  won't,"  cried 
Romney  elliptically ;  ^nd  as  he  said  it  he  by  no 
means  looked  like  the  genial  blue-eyed  child  of 
mere  fun  that  Gertrude  imagined  him. 

Emory  made  no  remark,  but  as  he  hurried 
along  he  could  not  help  wondering  what  would 
happen  when  Romney  went  in  to  Loder,  and  fired 
off  a  big  "You  shall"  at  the  Chief. 

"He's  the  only  man  in  the  crowd  who  is  capable 
of  it !    May  I  be  there  to  see !"  thought  Hinton. 

"Where  is  Gertrude  Broughton?"  shouted 
Romney,  as  he  bore  down  on  Tiny. 

"Here  is  Gertrude  Broughton,"  said  Gertrude 
herself,  as  she  came  out  on  the  veranda. 

"Then,  come  here ;  I  want  to  talk  with  you," 
cried  the  Contractor. 

He  put  his  hand  inside  her  arm,  and  with  the 
pressure  of  a  bear  gripped  her,  and  bore  her  off 
round  the  corner. 

"What  are  you  doing?"  she  asked  in  astonish- 
ment. 

"What  have  you  been  doing?" 

She  looked  at  him,  and  suddenly  twisted  her- 
self free. 

286 


The  Colossus 

"Oh,  you  know,  do  you?" 

"I  know,"  said  Sam.  "Now,  you  are  a  pretty 
young  woman,  are  you  not  ?" 

"Am  I?"  asked  Gertrude  mockingly.  "Well, 
yes,  I  dare  say  I  am,  but  that  is  nothing  to 
you." 

"Don't  talk  nonsense,"  said  Romney.  "Now 
you  are  going  to  come  along  with  me,  and  make 
a  clean  breast  of  all  this,  and  then  the  thing  will 
be  finished.  Damn,  you're  a  plucky  woman !  If 
I  weren't  married,  I'd  marry  you  for  this." 

"As  revenge,  I  suppose,"  said  the  flippant  Ger- 
trude. 

"Come !"  cried  Romney. 

He  made  a  motion  to  take  hold  of  her  again. 
If  he  had  succeeded,  she  might  have  given  in  and 
gone  with  him.  He  did  not  look  now  like  a 
cherub  with  a  trumpet ;  he  was  a  keen  man  who 
meant  having  his  way.  He  was  strong,  too,  and 
a  woman  like  Gertrude  was  born  to  be  dominated, 
and  to  live  in  revolt. 

"No,  no,"  she  said  in  anger  at  the  sudden  sug- 
gestion of  feminine  weakness  in  her.  "Go  away ; 
I  don't  want  you  to  interfere." 

Romney  snorted. 

"I  shall  interfere  with  you  or  any  one  else 
just  as  much  or  as  little  as  I  like,  so  you  mind 
me.    For  two  pins  I'd  carry  you  there." 
287 


The  Colossus 

"But  you  couldn't  make  me  speak,"  said  Ger- 
trude. 

"I  could,"  cried  Romney ;  "I'd  wring  your  neck 
if  you  didn't.    Are  you  coming?" 

Gertrude  stood  aloof,  ready  to  fly.  He  looked 
bent  on  seizing  her. 

"How  tenderly  you  woo!"  she  laughed.  And 
suddenly  she  became  serious.  "Do  you  want 
things  done?  Yes,  of  course  you  do.  Then  go 
and  make  Mr.  Loder  come  to  me.  Ah,  you  come 
and  bully  me !  Why  don't  you  go  and  bully  him  ? 
You  daren't ;  you're  afraid  of  him !" 

"Oh,  I'm  afraid  of  him,  am  I?"  said  Romney. 
"That's  like  a  woman,  isn't  it?  I'm  sorry  I  let 
go  of  you ;  I'd  shake  you  for  that." 

He  turned  away  and  marched  off. 

"Oh,  Sam  Romney,"  piped  Gertrude  rather 
feebly. 

"Yes,"  said  Sam. 

"You're  not  angry,  are  you?  Really,  I'd  rather 
do  it  for  you  than  any  one." 

Romney  snorted  again,  and  then  laughed. 

"Angry  with  you?  No,  my  dear;  you're  all 
right.  But  you'll  never  be  quite  right  till  some 
one  boxes  your  ears  and  kisses  you  all  at  once,  my 
leopardess !" 

"Indeed !"  cried  Gertrude,  who  wondered  how 
he  knew  it. 

288 


The  Colossus 

But  before  she  could  bring  something  bitter 
to  bear  on  him  he  was  off  to  find  Loder. 

"Damme,"  said  Romney  indignantly,  "I'll  show 
this  lot  that  Loder's  Loder,  and  that  Sam  Rom- 
ney is  just  as  ready  to  fire  a  shot  into  him  as  into 
any  beggar  of  his  own  at  Beira!" 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

When  Romney  came  to  Loder's  suite  of  rooms 
he  found  Hinton  and  Matthews  outside  in  the 
corridor. 

"Well,  boys,  what  are  you  doing  here?"  asked 
the  Contractor. 

"The  fact  is  that  the  Frenchman  is  in  one 
room,"  said  Hinton,  "and  Bontine  and  Loder  are 
in  the  other;  so  we  just  stepped  out." 

"And  what's  Bontine  at  ?" 

"He's  trying  to  persuade  the  Chief  to  put  his 
pride  in  his  pocket  and  go  to  her." 

Romney  shrugged  his  huge  shoulders. 

"He  has  big  pockets,  but  to  get  his  pride  into 
them  is  beyond  Bontine,  or  I'm  an  Afrikander 
Dutchman  of  the  slowest  sort,"  he  declared.  "I 
know  him.     He'll  try  to  persuade  Loder." 

"Well,"  said  Hinton  in  some  astonishment, 
"and  what  the  devil  do  you  propose  doing?" 

Romney  laughed  and  tried  to  slap  Hinton  on 
the  back.  His  joviality  returned  at  the  prospect 
of  a  fight. 

"I'll  not  persuade  him  with  soft  words,"  he 
290 


The  Colossus 

said  with  emphasis,  "but,  by  God!  I'll  have  him 
and  Gertrude  Broughton  in  one  room  before  half 
an  hour,  if  I  have  to  carry  one  or  the  other. 
That's  what  I  mean  to  do." 

The  picture  of  Loder  being  carried  by  the  Con- 
tractor was  too  much  for  Hinton,  even  in  his 
present  state  of  nervous  tension.  He  laughed 
till  he  almost  cried.  But  in  his  heart  he  knew 
what  Romney  said  was  right.  Bontine  of  the 
silver  tongue  was  not  at  all  likely  to  persuade  the 
Chief  out  of  his  natural  attitude  to  women,  and 
the  more  he  talked  the  more  obstinate  Loder 
would  be.  There  were  times  when  the  Chief  was 
politic  to  his  finger-tips. 

As  he  was  himself  persuasive  in  the  highest  de- 
gree, he  loved  persuasion.  But  that  was  only 
when  he  could  persuade,  and  when  there  was 
no  apparent  or  imagined  humiliation  in  attempt- 
ing it,  with  an  equal  or  some  possibly  formidable 
opponent.  To  give  in  to  Gertrude  Broughton's 
bounce  was  like  yielding  to  a  subordinate.  And 
to  Loder  it  would  seem  that  she  was  a  rebel  of  his 
own  household,  and  being  subordinate  thus  was 
doubly  so  by  being  a  woman. 

"I  should  like  to  hear  you  and  the  Chief,"  said 
Hinton. 

"Then  you  won't !"  cried  Romney.  "I'll  deal 
with  him." 

291 


The  Colossus 

And  then  Bontine  came  out,  with  failure  writ- 
ten on  his  face. 

"Any  luck  ?''  asked  Romney. 

"No,  he's  quite  impossible,"  said  Bontine 
sharply.     "He  won't  listen  to  reason." 

"He  shall  listen  to  me,"  said  the  Contractor; 
and  he  marched  in.  "These  chaps  are  frightened 
of  him,  because  they  don't  know  him." 

They  might  have  urged  that  Romney  was  not 
frightened  of  him  because  he  didn't  know  him. 
But,  then,  he  knew  him  well  enough  for  his  own 
purposes,  and  he  never  wanted  to  go  further. 
Like  Loder,  he  trusted  to  his  own  instincts,  and 
had  no  policy. 

"Well,  what  is  it?"  asked  the  Chief  gruffly, 
when  he  saw  who  it  was.  He  was  in  a  very  pretty 
temper,  and  was  just  considering  how  he  could 
carry  off  matters  with  Cazoule,  then  getting  im- 
patient in  the  next  room. 

"What  is  it?"  asked  Romney  fierily;  "well, 
what  the  devil  do  you  suppose  it  is?" 

Now,  even  if  Loder  was  not  courteous,  it  was 
surprising  to  him  to  find  others  were  not.  So 
Romney's  attitude  struck  him  at  once  and  made 
him  pause. 

"I  hear  they've  all  been  at  you  to  make  you 
give  way,"  went  on  Romney,  with  his  hands  in 
his  pockets,  "and  I  suppose  the  entire  corridor 
292 


The  Colossus 

is  packed  with  failures.  On  my  word,  Loder,  I 
never  thought  you  were  the  man  to  cut  off  your 
nose  to  spite  your  face." 

Loder  turned  on  him. 

"Look  here,  Romney,"  he  said  with  a  frown : 
"that  will  do  you,  I  didn't  send  for  you " 

"No,"  said  Romney,  "so  I  came  without  being 
sent  for.  I  want  things  done.  And  I  hear  there's 
a  chance  of  them  being  done,  if  you  act  like  a 
sensible  man." 

"Eh !"  said  Loder.  He  knew  Romney  feared 
neither  man  nor  devil,  but  it  had  never  occurred 
to  him  that  the  Contractor  was  quite  so  infernally 
audacious. 

"Yes,  like  a  sensible  man,"  repeated  Romney 
with  his  legs  apart.  "Now,  I  want  you  to  come 
and  have  a  talk  with  this  young  woman." 

"I  won't,"  said  Loder. 

"Yes,  you  will !"  cried  Romney.  "What's  your 
objection?" 

Loder  cleared  his  throat,  and  was  evidently 
rather  at  a  loss.  For  one  thing,  he  was  not  pre- 
pared to  discuss  his  objections  with  this  intruder, 
and  for  another,  he  could  not,  for  the  life  of  him, 
help  liking  the  man  who  was  so  utterly  regardless 
of  the  informal  protocol  which  regulated  all  in- 
tercourse with  him. 

"What's  your  objection?"  repeated  Romney. 
293 


The  Colossus 

"Now,  look  here,  Loder:  is  it  true  she  has  a 
secret  that's  of  use  ?" 

"We  beheve  so,"  said  Loder. 

"And  with  it  you  can  squeeze  Cazoule  ?" 

"I  suppose  so,"  said  the  Chief. 

"And  the  trouble  is  that  she  won't  volunteer  the 
information  ?" 

Loder  nodded. 

"Why,  what  a  damn  fool  she  must  be!"  cried 
Romney  with  an  odd  grin.  "To  think  she  could 
do  us  all  such  a  service  by  opening  her  mouth !" 

Loder  looked  at  him  inquiringly. 

"Supposing  she  wanted  me  to  ask  her,  and  I 
wouldn't,  what  would  you  say?" 

And  Loder  grunted  uneasily. 

"You  would  want  to  have  me  choked,"  said 
Romney,  "and  you'd  be  right.  You  would  be 
right.    It's  I  that  would  be  the  fool." 

This  was  calling  the  Chief  a  fool  to  his  face, 
and  Loder  knew  it.  There  wasn't  a  man  between 
Cape  Town  and  Cairo  who  could  have  done  it 
with  impunity,  and  yet  Loder  listened  and  said 
nothing.  He  had  the  air  of  being  half  paralysed. 
But  as  he  listened  his  mind  worked,  and  at  the 
back  of  his  mind  was  this  queer  insuperable  ob- 
stacle of  his  not  being  able  to  give  in  on  such  a 
point.     It  was  impossible,  impossible. 

Then  by  an  intuition,  or  accident,  or  call  it 
294 


The  Colossus 

instinct,  Romney  fell  on  Loder  at  this  very 
spot. 

"Damme  if  I  understand  you!"  he  almost 
shouted.  "What's  wrong  with  you?  You  are 
letting  your  pride  hang  up  the  greatest  thing  you 
ever  schemed.  If  I  had  any  such  pride,  I'd  eat 
it,  and  be  sick  afterward." 

And,  as  he  spoke,  Loder,  the  man  who  had 
overcome  obstacles  from  the  time  he  landed  in 
Africa,  who  had  conquered  them  and  sought  for 
more,  who  had  been  the  new  political  Alexander 
— not  yet  without  more  worlds  to  subdue — was 
struggling  with  himself.  He  heard  Romney 
shouting  in  the  far,  far  cJistance,  like  a  prophet  on 
a  mountain  over  the  arena — like  that  very  part 
of  himself  he  wished  to  overcome. 

"They  don't  understand,"  he  said  to  himself 
with  peculiar  forlomness.  "They  don't  under- 
stand." 

Nor  did  he  himself  understand  why  he  could 
not  give  way  and  thus  conquer  himself. 

For  this  reluctance  of  his  was  something  a 
little  deeper  than  he  knew — it  rested  upon  the 
very  rock  which  based  his  being.  That  he  was 
abnormal  in  any  way  was  perhaps  untrue.  He 
never  looked  upon  himself  as  bigger  than  the 
world.  Other  men  were  small,  or  so  it  seemed ; 
they  fought  for  smaller  personal  ends,  and  if 
295 


The  Colossus 

they  helped  on  great  issues  to  the  point  of  final 
resolution,  it  was  the  great  issues  that  bore  them 
onward  like  a  flood.  He  fought  for  the  big 
things  knowingly,  and  asked  no  opportunity  for 
ease ;  he  loved  to  fight  things  out,  and  could  take 
the  responsibility  of  failure  or  the  greater  re- 
sponsibiHty  of  success  with  a  bearing  which  was 
never  ignoble.  But  here  he  faced  something  in 
himself,  and  was  astonished  to  hear  a  strong  man 
and  a  simple  chide  him  with  a  voice  like  the  voice 
of  Conscience.  Why  could  he  not  give  way  ?  He 
was  like  a  boy  who  could  not  ask  pardon  for  some 
offence  which  he  did  not  think  one.  To  yield  was 
to  condone  the  absurdest  folly;  it  was  to  yield 
to  prejudice;  it  was  to  initial  with  approval  a 
document  on  account  of  force.  Ah,  there  was  the 
rub!  He  could  not  endure  to  be  beaten.  And, 
again,  that  was  nothing.  Something  was  still 
left.  What  was  it?  what  was  it?  He  stared  at 
Romney  with  bent  brows  and  an  inward  specu- 
lative eye. 

"Come,  now,"  said  Romney  in  another  tone. 
"Come  and  get  it  over.  Remember  she's  a 
woman." 

Yes,  she  was  a  woman ! 

"Remember  she's  a  woman!" 

What  a  foolish  legend  this  was  I  A  woman 
was  to  be  treated  with  especial  consideration; 
296 


The  Colossus 

and  why  ?  Unless  cause  to  the  contrary  existed, 
he  was  not  aware  that  he  treated  any  one  with- 
out due  consideration,  and  here  was  Romney 
crying — together  with  the  World,  which  in  no 
way  acted  on  its  cry — that  this  one  was  to  be 
bowed  down  to  and  treated  with  extraordinary 
grace. 

"Why,  it's  damn  foolishness  !"  said  Loder  with 
astonishment. 

He  was  unnatural  in  that  this  convention  did 
not  touch  him.  But  he  was  very  natural  in  that 
he  behaved  as  the  natural  man  did.  What  did 
unadulterated  nature  tell  him  to  do ;  what  would 
the  uncivilised  man  do?  It  bade  him  shake  her 
till  she  spoke,  and  certainly  if  Loder  had  put  his 
heavy  hands  upon  her  she  would  have  looked 
upon  that  shaking  as  the  sexual  defeat  which  is 
victory  to  woman.  But  he  couldn't  do  that.  It 
was  not  possible,  because — oh,  because  he  had 
something  of  the  boy  in  him  yet.  He  was  just 
a  little  afraid  of  them  all.  It  made  him  treat  them 
as  if  he  was  utterly  cold.  He  heard  Romney 
talk  as  if  his  voice  came  through  a  wall.  And  so 
it  did.    There  was  a  wall  between  them. 

"She's  a  woman,"  said  Romney  with  his  legs 

very  far  apart,  and  his  hands  in  his  pockets ;  "and 

she's  a  good  plucked  one,  with  a  spice  of  the 

devil  in  her,  or  she  wouldn't  have  done  this — 

297 


The  Colossus 

how  she  did  it  the  Lord  knows,  I  don't — and  it's 
a  damn  small  price  to  pay  for  what  she  knows. 
And,  moreover,  she's  been  fool  enough — as  we 
all  know,  Loder — to  take  it  into  her  head  to  run 
in  double-harness  with  you.  And  as  we  know 
that  cock  won't  fight,  why,  pay  her  the  little  com- 
pliment of  being  a  bit  gentle  with  her !  For  she 
will  be  pretty  sick  of  herself  by-and-bye.  Any 
woman  must  be  when  the  man  she  wants  gives 
her  the  cold  shoulder,  as  you  have  done.  Soften 
it  for  her,  man — soften  it  for  her." 

The  gardens  at  Loder's  place  at  Cape  Town 
were  almost  public  property,  and  many  a  time 
the  Chief  had  gone  out  of  his  way  to  avoid  dis- 
turbing by  his  presence  a  party  of  poor  sight- 
seers. It  was  true  he  was  full  of  consideration 
for  every  one,  unless  there  was  reason  to  the  con- 
trary. What  reason  was  there  to  the  contrary 
here?  This  woman  had  come  into  his  political 
garden  unasked.  That  was  true;  but  that  was 
nothing.  In  a  fashion  she  had  made  love  to  him. 
It  was  disturbing,  but  he  owed  her  no  maUce  on 
that  account.  It  came  to  this,  then,  that  inside 
him,  deep  in  his  nature,  far  down  in  his  soul, 
there  was  something  which  would  not  let  him 
give  way,  even  when  giving  way  was  dictated  by 
self-interest,  by  courtesy,  and  by  common  human 
kindness. 

298 


The  Colossus 

"Soften  it  for  her,  man — soften  it  for  her.  But 
perhaps  you  can't !" 

Pretty  infernal  impudence  of  Romney,  was  it 
not?  And  yet  this  blue-eyed  rioter,  this  mad 
mixture  of  a  man,  touched  the  right  chord  by 
instinct.  Loder  wondered  if  he  touched  it  know- 
ingly, and  had  a  motion  of  resentment  in  his 
mind.  Bontine,  the  natural-born  diplomatist, 
the  Political  Faith-Healer,  the  serpent  of  wis- 
dom and  the  dove  of  peace  in  one,  had  failed ; 
and  he  had  failed  because  he  spoke  as  wise  men 
speak,  and  had  won  barren  victories  of  dialectics. 
He  made  it  his  business  to  rouse  no  resentment 
in  Loder,  but  what  would  have  succeeded  with  a 
thousand  men  failed  with  the  next.  Out  of  the 
mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings  came  true  wis- 
dom, for  Romney  was  to  Bontine  in  the  art  of 
persuasion  no  more  than  a  child.  The  con- 
tractor, speaking  through  the  wall  betwixt  them, 
made  Loder  aware  that  he  had  no  reason  but 
himself. 

Here  indeed  was  an  obstacle  to  overcome,  and 
when  the  Chief  knew  it  he  walked  to  the  door 
and  opened  it. 

"All  right,  Romney ;  leave  me  alone  for  a  min- 
ute or  two,"  he  said. 

And  Romney,  again  doing  the  right  thing  by 
instinct,  went  without  a  word. 
299 


The  Colossus 

"Have  you  succeeded?"  asked  Hinton. 

"In  five  miqutes  I'll  know  whether  this  Chief 
of  yours  is  a  great  man  or  not,"  said  Romney. 

Though  Loder  had  often  felt  forlornly  remote 
from  the  possibility  of  communicating  with  his 
species,  and  could  only  endeavor  to  write  him- 
self down  in  the  half-intelligible  runes  of  great 
work  attempted  and  great  work  done,  he  never 
felt  so  solitary  as  in  that  hour.  He  was  unintel- 
ligible to  himself,  and  as  his  brain  worked  like  a 
tide  in  a  narrow  strait,  he  wondered  vaguely 
what  all  this  meant.  He  had  done  many  things 
he  wished  undone,  but  that  was  nothing.  There 
were  many  things  to  do,  but  now  they  were  noth- 
ing. What  he  had  to  do  was  to  beat  himself 
down,  and  for  minutes  that  were  years  and  sec- 
onds that  were  long  hours  he  fought  a  new, 
a  strange,  an  absurd  but  equal  adversary.  A 
new  adversary,  but  himself;  a  strange  adver- 
sary, but  again  himself;  an  absurd  adversary, 
but  once  more  himself,  and  an  equal.  To 
others  this  would  be  nothing;  few  would  under- 
stand it,  many  would  smile,  and  fools  might 
laugh.  But  still  it  was  a  fight,  and  to  win 
was  to  make  a  sacrifice  that  would  appear  less 
than  nothing  to  those  who  could  not  compre- 
hend. 

As  he  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  think- 
300 


The  Colossus 

ing,  thinking,  he  saw  things  through  a  veil.  He 
formulated  nothing,  and  did  not  use  words.  His 
greatest  hours  had  no  words;  words  were,  after 
all,  only  the  most  inadequate  symbols  for  the 
realities  in  the  brain.  But  he  came  out  of  the 
realm  of  things  into  the  realm  of  morality.  So 
grows  spiritual  duty  in  a  race.  This  was  a 
thing  that  had  to  be  done.  But  (and  worst  of 
all)  it  ought  to  be  done.  This  "ought"  outraged 
him.  He  was  so  free  of  hypocrisy,  that  to  do 
a  thing  because  he  ought  to  do  it  was  against  his 
nature.  He  leant  too  far  over  from  hypocrisy. 
He  wanted  to  do  what  he  must  do ;  to  do  only 
that  which  was  the  plain  dictate  of  his  whole 
consciousness,  and  that  which  underlies  con- 
sciousness. 

Here,  then,  was  the  fierce  point  of  battle.  He 
was  like  a  nation  which  is  at  the  hour  when  an 
old  code  of  morality  and  a  new  one  come  into 
conflict.  The  occasion  might  indeed  be  small, 
but  it  was  a  test  case — it  was  much  in  little. 
What  was  one's  duty  to  the  strong,  what  to  the 
weak?  He  had  worked  all  his  life  on  the  big 
code  of  natural  Law  which  fitted  his  mind  and 
his  nature,  but  this  was  a  new  sphere  of  action 
where  it  failed  him. 

"I  ought  to  do  it,"  said  Loder.  He  lifted  his 
eyes  and  looked  out  upon  the  Nile.  It  seemed 
301 


The  Colossus 

as  if  he  might  as  well  ask  the  river  to  flow  to  the 
South. 

"No,  I  can't  do  it,"  said  Loder.  And  then 
he  clenched  his  hands.  "So,  by  God,  I  will !" 
he  said. 

He  stared  round  the  room  in  a  shamefaced 
way,  as  if  the  World  was  there  to  see,  and  walked 
ro  the  door.  He  threw  it  open,  and  found  Hinton 
and  Romney  standing  by  the  window  which 
looked  upon  the  great  inner  court  of  the  hotel. 

"Where's  Bontine?"  asked  Loder. 

"He's  in  with  the  Frenchman,  sir,"  said  Hin- 
ton. 

"Humph,  that's  right — that's  right,"  grunted 
Loder.  He  stared  at  Romney  for  a  moment,  and 
Sam  thought  he  was  going  to  speak,  but  the 
Chief  turned  again  to  Hinton. 

"Where  shall  I  find  Miss  Broughton,  Hin- 
ton?" 

"Where  was  she,  Romney?"  asked  the  Sec- 
retary. 

"W^ith  Lady  Bontine." 

"Ah,  that  will  do,"  said  the  Chief,  and  he 
marched  down  the  corridor. 

When  he  turned  the  corner  Romney  dropped 
his  hand  on  Hinton's  shoulder. 

"I  did  it." 

"So  it  seems,"  said  Emory  dryly ;  "and  have 
302 


The  Colossus 

you  found  out  yet  whether  he's  a  great  man  or 
a  fraud  ?" 

Romney  shook  his  head. 

"I  never  thought  him  a  fraud,  but  he's  a  bigger 
man  than  I  thought.  Only  it  has  never  occurred 
to  me  yet  to  get  down  on  my  knees  to  any  human 
being." 

"We  might  be  on  our  knees  to  worse  men, 
anyhow,"  cried  Hinton ;  "and  if  you  knew  him 
as  well  as  I  do  you  would  forgive  his  faults  of 
manner,  and  forget  your  own  private  griev- 
ances." 

Romney  shook  his  head. 

"I  have  no  private  grievances  against  him 
now.  And,  as  to  my  knowing  him,  why,  you 
all  failed,  and  I  succeeded." 

"What  did  you  say  to  him  ?" 

Romney  looked  at  him  with  a  smile. 

"I  witch-doctored  him." 

After  Romney  left  her,  Gertrude  sat  at  the 
table  alone  with  her  head  upon  her  hands.  Out- 
side Tiny  lay  in  her  chair,  and  was  silent.  There 
was  an  abyss  between  the  two  women,  for  Tiny, 
who  thought  the  world  of  Loder,  believed  Ger- 
trude had  behaved  shamefully,  and  was  yet  un- 
ashamed. For  Gertrude  could  not  tell  her  that, 
for  all  her  obstinacy,  she  was  deeply  ashamed. 
303 


The  Colossus 

What  claim  had  she  on  the  man,  and  why  should 
she  have  acted  as  she  did  ?  She  had  been  wrong 
from  the  very  beginning,  and  now  by  humiliating 
him  she  humiliated  herself.  She  wanted  him 
not  to  come,  and  was  inclined  to  think  him  jus- 
tified in  not  yielding.  She  went  further.  It 
would  show  he  was  what  some  said :  if  he  did 
give  way,  he  was  a  man  who  would  sacrifice 
anything  for  an  end.  If  he  refused  definitely 
she  would  be  prouder  of  him.  For  then  she  saw 
that  she  herself  must  give  way,  and  go  to  him 
humbly. 

She  knew  that  he  did  not  in  any  way  care  for 
her;  and  yet  she  had  desired  a  barren  victory. 
What  was  this  obstinacy  in  her?  She  reasoned 
with  herself,  and  tried  to  get  up  to  go  to  him. 
But  she  could  not.  Perhaps  he  would  come. 
She  wanted  him  to  come  in  order  to  justify  her- 
self. If  he  came  she  meant  to  feel  sure  that  he 
was  purely  selfish ;  that  he  could  sacrifice  a  legit- 
imate pride  to  immediate  profit.  And  how  would 
he  speak  if  he  did  come  ?  What  chord  of  wrath 
would  he  touch  in  her?  How  would  she  take 
what  he  said  ?  She  got  painfully  curious  to  know 
herself.  Would  he  command  her  to  speak? 
Would  he  lay  a  hand  on  her?  Would  he  be 
polite  and  haughtily  apologetic?  Would  he  get 
what  he  wanted,  and  then  show  his  rough  side? 
304 


The  Colossus 

She  listened  to  passing  footsteps  in  the  outside 
corridor  with  intense  and  painful  anticipation. 
Her  heart  beat  till  she  seemed  to  hear  it.  What 
a  fool  a  woman  was ! 

She  knew  they  must  all  be  at  him  to  make 
him  give  way.  She  heard  silver-tongued  George 
appeal  to  him ;  she  saw  Romney  going  for  him 
like  a  ram  in  fighting  order.  And  she  guessed 
dimly  the  confusion  of  mind  into  which  they 
would  throw  Loder  if  they  shook  him  at  all  from 
his  first  most  natural  determination  not  to  see 
her  unless  she  came  to  him.  They  would  all 
argue  how  foolish  it  was  of  him.  "Material  in- 
terests— material  interests !"  would  be  their  war- 
cry.  And  when  was  the  Chief  ever  known  to  go 
against  material  interests?  She  accepted  that 
common  view  just  then,  but  in  her  heart  was 
aware  that  Loder's  chief  interests  could  not  be 
called  material. 

But  if  he  came  ! 

If  he  came  and  was  reasonably  diplomatic  she 
would  die  of  it.  She  hoped  he  would  be  at  his 
worst,  then  she  could  use  her  tongue,  and  fling 
him  his  precious  evidence  with  contempt. 

"Take  it,  and  ask  your  precious  Secretary  for 
the  rest !"  she  heard  herself  say. 

The  bitterness  she  imagined  made  her  wish 
to  hurt  Loder  and  to  hurt  Hinton  too. 
so  305 


The  Colossus 

And  then  she  fancied  she  heard  Loder's  foot- 
step in  the  passage.  She  put  her  hand  to  her 
heart  in  sudden  agitation,  and  half  rose  from  her 
chair. 

Yes,  that  was  the  Chief's  step  sure  enough ! 

She  sank  back  again  and  waited.  He  was 
coming,  after  all. 

"Material  interests !" 

"The  essence  of  the  contract  is  Time !" 

She  knew  those  phrases,  and  she  was  Time  to 
that  gang  of  railway  and  Empire  makers !  Ah, 
what  was  Empire  to  her? 

The  Chief  came  slowly,  and  passed  the  door. 
She  heard  him  stop  and  turn. 

And  then  he  came  in.  She  rose  up  and  stood 
before  him  with  her  head  down.  Was  this,  then, 
triumph?  She  looked  at  him  for  a  moment  and 
was  ashamed. 

What  a  great  big  man  he  was !  and  yet  he 
stood  there  hesitating,  and  was  of  curiously  sim- 
ple mind.  His  mind  was  in  his  face  and  his 
eyes,  and  it  said:  "I've  come  because  I  ought 
to  come,  and  I  don't  like  it;  and  it's  a  devil- 
ish new  departure,  and  I  feel  at  sea — quite  at 
sea. 

She  had  expected  a  hard  gray  eye,  and  a  ready 
biting  tongue  with  an  order  on  its  tip,  and  now 
before  her  was  the  biggest  man  of  the  Empire, 
306 


The  Colossus 

looking  like  an  embarrassed  schoolboy,  whose 
natural  humor  was  suppressed  by  the  great  con- 
ditions of  a  full  drawing-room. 

She  tried  to  speak,  and  the  reason  she  tried 
was  that  she  wanted,  as  any  gracious  woman 
would  want,  with  such  a  schoolboy,  to  put 
him  at  his  ease.  But  if  she  had  spoken  she 
would  have  cried  just  then,  and  she  knew 
what  tears  would  do.  And  he  was  trying  to 
speak,  and  was  coming  toward  her,  with  both 
hands  out. 

"Miss  Broughton,  let  us — let  us  be  friends," 
said  Loder.  And  he  was  ashamed  of  himself, 
for  he  wondered  if  she  thought  he  had  come  just 
because  it  was  advantageous  for  him  to. do  so, 
and  if  she  had  said  so,  he  would  not  have  denied 
it  by  a  word.  But  he  had  no  such  thought.  Her 
lip  trembled,  and  she  bit  it  hard. 

"Oh,  Mr.  Loder,"  she  said,  "I'm  sorry " 

He  knew  what  she  meant. 

"Oh,  no,  no!  It  doesn't  matter,"  grunted  the 
Chief,  taking  his  eye  ofif  her.  "And  are  we 
friends  ?" 

He  offered  her  his  hand  again,  and  if  she  had 
followed  her  inclination  she  would  have  kissed 
it.  She  took  it,  and  the  Chief  gave  her  a  grip 
that  was  not  out  of  place.  It  hurt  her  so  that 
her  lip  stopped  trembling.  Was  he  going  to  be 
307 


The  Colossus 

her  friend?  He  had  few  friends  as  the  word  is 
used  among  mortals,  but  if  he  wanted  her  very 
blood  he  could  have  it.  She  understood  now 
how  Hinton  regarded  him.  A  thousand  things 
his  lieutenants  had  said  were  plain  to  her. 

"Oh,  yes,  we  are  friends,"  she  murmured. 
"But  you  are  busy — with  business,  are  you  not, 
Mr.  Loder?" 

The  Chief  said  vaguely  that  it  didn't  matter. 
He  was  trying  to  think  what  further  he  ought  to 
say,  for  he  was  not  aware  he  had  said  everything 
that  could  be  said,  and  had  expressed  it  all  with- 
out words. 

But  Gertrude  was  in  a  fever  of  repentance. 

"Yes,  it  does  matter.  I'll  come  with  you.  I 
want  to  speak  to  Mr.  Hinton  before  you." 

"With  Hinton?"  said  Loder. 

She  nodded  and  went  to  the  door,  and  there 
she  stood  a  moment  with  her  head  down. 

"I  am  a  fool !"  she  cried  to  herself  after  that 
unused  pause;  and  she  threw  the  door  open 
with  a  half-laugh  of  bitterness. 

"Come." 

She  led  the  way,  and  Loder  followed  her.  He 
was  glad  he  had  done  it. 

"Mr.  Hinton,"  said  Gertrude. 

"Yes,  Miss  Broughton." 

"Please  come  here,"  she  said.  She  stood  with 
308 


The  Colossus 

him  and  Loder,  apart  with  Romney.  "Here's  the 
letter,  and  Mr.  Hinton  will  tell  you  all  the  rest," 
she  cried. 

"Eh,  what?"  growled  Loder.     "He " 

"Yes,  he  knows,"  said  Gertrude,  "but  I  bound 
him  not  to  speak,  so  you  mustn't  be  angry  with 
him." 

The  Chief  stared  at  Hinton. 

"Yes,  I  knew,  sir,"  said  the  Secretary.  "Shall 
I  tell  you?" 

Loder  took  in  the  situation  slowly,  and  shook 
his  head. 

"Afterward  —  afterward.  Thank  you.  Miss 
Broughton,  for " 

But  when  he  turned  Gertrude  had  gone,  and 
the  Chief  sighed  heavily. 

"Now,  then,"  he  said  abruptly,  "let  us  hear  it." 

And  ten  minutes  later  he  went  in  to  Cazoule, 
and  Bontine  came  out. 

"By  Jove !  I  thought  he  was  never  going  to 
come,  and  that  accursed  Cazoule  was  getting 
more  like  red  pepper  every  minute." 

Hinton,  who  was  still  nervous  as  to  what 
would  happen  when  Loder  got  a  full  view  of  the 
fact  that  his  own  Secretary  had  kept  him  in  the 
dark,  gave  a  hard  laugh. 

"Oh,  the  Chief  will  pepper  him  now." 

"Are  you  sure?"  asked  Bontine. 
309 


The  Colossus 

"I  know,"  said  Hinton,  "and  I've  known  all 
along." 

He  told  Sir  George  and  Romney  what  had 
happened  to  Zohrab  Bey. 

"By  the  powers,  you'll  be  out  of  a  job,"  said 
Romney ;  "and  if  you  are,  I'll  put  you  where  you 
want  to  be,  if  you'll  come  to  me." 

Hinton  nodded  nervously. 

"You'll  be  all  right,"  said  Bontine ;  "but,  to  tell 
the  truth,  Hinton,  it  is  I  that  ought  to  be  angry 
with  you.    You  shouldn't  have  let  her  do  it." 

"Hear  him !"  cried  Romney.  "As  if  any  one 
could  have  stopped  her !" 

And  then  Loder  opened  the  door  and  called 
Emory  in. 

"All's  well  that  ends  well,"  said  Sir  George, 
"but  it  has  been  touch  and  go  with  us." 

"I'll  go  and  wire  'Hurrah*  to  Oppenheimer," 
cried  Romney. 

"Confound  your  Oppenheimer,  Romney  !  It's 
he  that  stopped  the  way  first ;"  and  Romney 
grinned. 

"Man  alive,  my  dear  Sir  George  Bontine,  my 
Commissioner  of  Rails,  and  so  forth !  I've  won 
a  victory  myself,  and  to-night  I'll  have  another 
concert." 

"Good  heavens !"  said  Bontine,  "can't  you  wait 
till  we  leave?" 

310 


The  Colossus 

And  ten  minutes  later  Hinton  came  out. 

"He's  come  down,"  he  whispered. 

"Definitely?"  asked  the  others  in  excitement. 

"We'll  have  our  guarantee  if  they  can  help 
us  to  it." 

"And  Zohrab?" 

"Stays  in  to  let  them  down  easy." 

"Then  I'll  wire  now,"  said  Romney.  "Hurrah 
for  the  through  road!  By  the  Lord!  I  wish  it 
had  failed,  and  then  I  would  have  stayed  in 
Europe  and  really  enjoyed  myself." 

He  went  down  the  corridor  with  a  swing  like 
a  loose  buoy  on  an  ebb,  and  sang  as  he  went. 

"And  how  does  the  Chief  take  your  keeping 
him  in  the  dark  ?"  asked  Bontine. 

"He  said,  'We'll  say  no  more  about  it,'  "  an- 
swered Hinton,  "And  Cazoule  has  gone ;  he 
went  by  way  of  the  veranda;  and  we're  to  have 
that  Powell  given  over  to  us." 

Bontine  rubbed  his  hands. 
"That's  good — that's  good,  the  damned  traitor !" 
he  said  warmly ;  "and  now  I'll  go  and  tell  my  wife." 

He  came  behind  Tiny  and  kissed  her. 

"You  can  pack  whenever  you  like,  my  dear," 
he  said  cheerfully. 

She  jumped  out  of  her  chair. 

"Do  you  mean  it,  George?"  she  cried — "do 
you  really  mean  it  ?" 

311 


The  Colossus 

"Fluffy,  do  I  ever  tell  you  anything  I  don't 
mean  ?" 

"You  persuade  me  that  you  don't,"  said  his 
wife.    "But  Gertrude  says  we  are  all  fools." 

"My  dear,"  said  George,  "that  is  no  new  dis- 
covery.   And  where  is  the  dea  ex  machina?" 

"You  mean  her?  Yes,  well,  she  came  past, 
and  stopped  to  kiss  me,  much  to  my  surprise,  be- 
cause we  had  quarrelled,  and,  George,  the  poor 
thing  left  a  tear  on  my  nose." 

Bontine  sighed  a  little  hypocritical  sigh,  and 
patted  Tiny's  cheek. 

"It  can't  be  helped.    Where  is  she  now?" 

"She  went  out  riding,"  replied  Tiny.  "I  called 
to  her,  but  she  wouldn't  answer,  and  just  waved 
her  hand.    I  thought  it  best  not  to  worry  her." 

Bontine  nodded. 

"I  dare  say  she  wants  to  be  alone,"  he  said. 
"Poor  girl !  I  never  thought  she  had  so  much 
in  her.  It's  odd  she  went  riding.  That's  what 
Loder  will  do." 

And  ten  minutes  later  the  Chief  rode  by 
them  on  his  big  gray.    He  did  not  see  them. 

"Which  road  will  he  take?"  asked  Tiny  anx- 
iously. 

"The  Pyramids,"  said  her  husband. 

And  that  was  where  Gertrude  had  gone. 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

When  Gertrude  left  Loder  in  the  corridor 
she  was  in  danger  of  swift  tears,  and  as  she  fled 
they  fell  at  last.  She  was  full  of  strange  and 
inexplicable  desolation,  and  at  that  moment  came 
nearer  to  a  true  passion  for  this  inscrutable 
enigma  of  a  man  than  she  had  ever  been.  Yet  in 
her  grief  and  shame  there  was  a  touch  of  re- 
fined and  rare  exaltation.  She  had  worked  for 
him  selfishly,  and  had  gained  a  reward  other  than 
that  which  she  had  striven  for — a  reward  which 
was  real,  though  as  subtle  and  elusive  as  the 
charm  of  the  desert. 

Of  a  certainty  she  had  pierced  the  veil  which 
hid  Eustace  Loder  from  the  world,  and  had  be- 
held him  for  one  moment  as  he  really  was.  Up  to 
this  time  she  had  seen  him  wholly  as  the  roughly 
appreciative  world  saw  him ;  he  had  been  strong, 
brutal,  unscrupulous,  powerful.  Let  it  pass  that 
he  was  all  that  and  more;  for  she  knew  he  was 
something  better,  which  few  could  even  guess  in 
such  clouds  as  he  hid  himself. 

No,  he  had  not  come  to  her  just  because  of 
material  interests ;  there  was  something  else  be- 
313 


The  Colossus 

hind  it.  He  was  sorry;  he  was  pleased;  he  was 
a  little  touched.  But  that  was  not  all,  nor  was  it 
that  which  appealed  to  her  now.  She  knew  there 
was  in  the  depths  of  the  man,  in  spite  of  all  his 
cunning,  a  rare  and  peculiar  simplicity.  She  had 
read  that  in  a  flash  when  he  came  toward  her.  It 
was  a  revelation  which  made  her  feel  humble. 
What  was  she  to  him,  who  flowed  like  the  Nile 
toward  some  mysterious  sea  of  fated  purpose? 
He  did  not  understand  himself  because  he  em- 
bodied a  destiny,  and  was,  beneath  his  outward 
covering,  a  child  of  the  race. 

As  she  rode  for  solitude  toward  the  Pyramids, 
on  whose  uplifted  summits  the  sun  was  already 
declining,  she  recalled  the  day  on  which  she  had 
returned  to  seek  him.  It  seemed  a  long  century 
ago,  and  now  he  was  not  what  she  had  then  imag- 
ined. What  were  these  Pyramids?  Who  knew 
them  and  what  they  meant?  If  they  were  tombs, 
even  yet  the  work  of  Kings  endured;  though 
Rameses  was  dust,  there  was  more  left  of  him 
than  his  sacred  scarabaeus;  Thothmes  stared 
through  his  Museum  wall  upon  works  that  he  had 
wrought.  So  this  Enigma  might  endure  when 
some  other  race,  yet  unborn,  came  out  of  dark- 
ness into  Egypt,  and  wooed  the  old  serpent  Nile. 

She  sighed  with  heavy  oppression,  and  gal- 
loped.   But  now  she  looked  not  behind.    She  did 
314 


The  Colossus 

not  say  that  the  Lover  rode  after  her  in  pursuit ; 
she  heard  no  thunder  of  his  horse's  hoofs. 

The  sun  still  sank,  and  was  hot  upon  her  face, 
and  then  it  touched  the  Great  Pyramid,  and  like 
a  fiery  dragon  bit  into  its  summit.  A  moment 
more,  and  the  shadows  galloped  toward  her,  and 
she  rode  on  shadowed  sand.  But  the  Pyramids 
grew  as  she  rode;  she  swerved  and  saw  the  sun 
again,  and  followed  the  line  of  shade  till  she 
came  near  their  vast  bulk,  and  was  in  full  day- 
light once  more.  She  reined  in  her  horse,  and, 
turning,  saw  Cairo  glitter  with  warm  fire.  Away 
in  the  east  was  the  white  fire  of  the  low  round 
moon.  And  far,  far  down  the  road  she  beheld 
a  rider — a  rider  who  rode  furiously,  as  one  who 
carries  news  to  a  King,  as  one  who  holds  in  his 
heart  a  message  for  the  Pharaohs. 

And  as  the  rider  grew  by  his  rapid  oncoming, 
she  felt  in  her  heart  that  this  was  the  Man  who 
was  his  own  messenger,  and  her  soul  was  afraid, 
and  her  bones  were  as  water,  and  she  turned  and 
went  onward  past  the  lesser  Pyramid.  And  there 
she  stayed. 

What  message  did  he  bring?  A  message  of 
to-day's  Ephemeris  to  the  dead  Ephemeris  of  a 
dead  yesterday,  or  something  more  lasting,  some- 
thing of  significance  in  Time,  if  not  Eternity? 
She  could  not  answer  that,  nor  could  he  who  car- 
315 


The  Colossus 

ried  the  message  have  answered.  Only  he  knew 
as  he  came  in  thunder  across  the  Desert  that 
something  in  him  desired  unheard  speech  with 
the  Past  and  with  the  Future.  For  this  was  evi- 
dent in  him :  that  what  he  had  to  say  was  incom- 
municable in  the  words  of  men. 

As  the  sun  bit  into  the  gold  edge  of  the  far 
horizon,  he  stayed  at  the  base  of  the  Great  Pyra- 
mid, and,  after  looking  up  toward  the  summit 
for  a  moment,  turned  and  faced  the  South. 

South,  and  far  South!  Down  yonder  lay 
bloodstained  Uganda  and  the  wild  Nyassa  up- 
lands, still  unchartered.  And  far  beyond  them 
other  lands  spread  in  mist,  through  which  his 
set  mind  peered.  And  again  he  came  out  above 
the  hot  valley  of  the  Zambesi,  and  once  more 
beheld  Mosi-oa-Tunge  raising  heavenward  its 
Five  Fingers  of  Spray.  He  heard  the  infinite 
thunder  of  its  plunge  as  it  fell  into  its  ancient 
carved  abysses  and  sent  up  in  awful  clouds  his 
Pillars  of  Smoke. 

And  in  the  night  lions  roared.  He  saw  his 
Pioneers  and  the  Pioneers  of  the  White  Races 
move  like  ants  across  the  veldt.  And  that — what 
was  that?    The  wail  of  a  Steamer? 

"Hoot!  hoot!  toot!    I  am  the  Civiliser!" 

And  that  was  the  strange  familiar  whistle  of 
the  Railway. 

316 


The  Colossus 

"Bulawayo !  Bulawayo !" 

Beyond,  far  down  the  sloping  veldt,  across  the 
lonely  Karoo  with  its  mighty  terraces,  lay  Cape 
Town,  a  very  jewel  in  a  wondrous  setting.  The 
wind  boomed  in  the  organ-pipes  of  Devil's  Peak ; 
he  saw  the  mighty  hyperbola  of  beach  with  its 
silver  sand  and  silver  surge.  And  beyond  it  was 
still  Britannia's  realm  of  ocean  that  washed  either 
Pole! 

He  sat  like  a  carven  man  on  a  bronze  horse, 
and  did  not  move.  The  sun  sank,  and  the  low 
large  moon  flooded  the  desert  with  lucid  mist  till 
the  rolling  sand  was  most  like  unto  snow.  And 
Cairo  glittered  as  a  starry  crown. 

He  heard  nothing  and  saw  nothing,  and  did 
not  turn  as  the  Woman  rode  homeward. 

But  she  turned  often  and  saw  him  through  a 
mist,  in  which  he  seemed  gigantic,  and  as  un- 
earthly as  an  adamantine  figure  in  some  magic 
tale  of  Araby. 

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The  hero  goes  into  a  trance  in  1900,  and  when  he  awakes  two 
centuries  later  he  finds  that  his  property  has  increased  so 
greatly  that  he  owns  more  than  half  the  world." 

THIRTY  STRANGE  STORIES.    New  Edition.   Post 
8vo,  Cloth,  Ornamental,  $1  50. 

Creepy,  ingenious,  original,  and  more  than  clever  they  all 
are.  They  fascinate  you  like  the  eye  of  a  snake.  ...  It  would 
be  impossible  to  find  a  group  of  stories  that  will  give  the 
reader  more  sensations,  or  hold  his  attention  more  firmly. — 
Boston  Herald. 

THE  WAR  OF  THE  AVORLDS.     With  Illustrations. 
Post  8vo,  Cloth,  Ornamental,  $1  50. 

One  of  the  conspicuous  books  of  the  year,  from  its  striking 
originality  of  title  and  plot. —  Washington  Times. 

THE    INVISIBLE    MAN.     A  Grotesque  Romance. 
Post  8vo,  Cloth,  Oruameutiil,  $1  00. 

In  his  audacious  imaginative  insight  into  the  romantic 
possibilities  underlying  the  discoveries  or  the  suggestion  of 
modern  science  Mr.  Wells  stands  unrivalled.  ...  It  is  just 
like  a  transcript  from  real  life,  recalling  the  best  work  of  Poe 
in  its  accent  of  sincerity  and  surpassing  it  in  its  felicity  of 
style. — Tlie  Spectator,  London. 


HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  Publishers 

NEW  YORK  AND    liONDON 

^'Any  of  the  above  works  will  be  sent  by  mail,  postage 
prepaid,  to  any  part  of  the  United  States,  Canada,  or 
Mexico,  on  receipt  of  the  price. 


'* 


